Nom de Guerre
by Fiachra Ochiern
Summary: Akatsuki has been banished, and Konoha finally has peace. But it comes at a terrible price. When an old enemy rises again, Konoha turns to a strange ally for help, one who brings back memories that might be best left buried. Note: Slightly divergent.
1. In Which He Dies

Prologue: In Which He Dies

_A man who has nothing to die for is not fit to live._

~Martin Luther King, Jr.

**o0O0o**

Naruto jerked on the chains that held his wrists to the chair he sat in as the door opened. The room consisted of four concrete walls and a door, with barely enough light to see the people who entered through the door. Three were older, proved by one's limp, and one was a ninja Naruto didn't recognize. His struggles didn't do any good, not that he expected them to. He had already seen the chains, and as little as he understood the seals he didn't even recognize decorating the metal, he knew the purpose of sealing something. This was to be his prison.

The one thing he understood was the seal that was plastered in the center of his forehead. Naruto had caught a glimpse of it just before that guy in the mask had pinned it on him. It looked just like the _ofudo_ that Kakashi-sensei carried around sometimes to guard against Kyuubi's chakra leaking out of Naruto. So, Naruto knew he wasn't getting any help from the fox.

Although, considering that Naruto wanted nothing more than to plant Danzo's smug face into the wall and demand some fucking explanation, maybe it was a good thing the fox was caged.

Danzo hung back from the rest of the group, an old man and woman guarded surreptitiously by a ninja who wore dark pants and a light _gi _along with his _hitai-ate _and _tanto_. His light hair was styled in almost the same way as Naruto had seen Yamanaka Inoichi's, but he saved that thought for a time when he knew he would be calmer.

"Uzumaki Naruto." The eldest of the two men was the first to speak, but calmly, as if he weren't facing down an enraged _jinchuuriki_.

The woman folded her hands into her sleeves and watched silently. Naruto didn't like her already.

"You have demanded our time," Mitokado Homura continued. "I sincerely hope you have something significant to say."

Naruto glared back at the man for a moment. He only knew his name because Kakashi-sensei and Shikamaru had described the old man with spectacles and a long white robe—like he was trying to imitate Sandaime. Naruto almost hated the man for that, but what he and the old woman, Utatane Koharu, were trying to do to Sasuke—_that_ was what had to be stopped.

Naruto sucked all the oxygen he could into his lungs in an effort to calm himself. He was already chained and sealed, and no amount of shouting would change that, he knew. But it was hard to be calm when he was really starting to hate this man.

"What would make you agree to pardon Sasuke?" demanded Naruto.

The old Koharu-baa-baa frowned, wrinkling her brow in a manner that suggested she pulled that face often.

"Uchiha Sasuke is a criminal," she declared. "He is a missing nin—"

"He never acted against Konoha," Naruto interrupted. He had been practicing this part. "He killed Orochimaru. _And_ Itachi. He did you guys a favor."

Even in the darkness, Naruto didn't miss the brief look that Koharu and Homura shared. Although, that was only because he had nowhere else to look. He wasn't entirely sure how much pull these three people had in the governing affairs of Konoha, but Tsunade-baa-chan had said that she'd never get Sasuke back into Konoha without the council's approval. Being Hokage was going to be a pain whenever Naruto eventually got the job.

"Nevertheless," continued Homura with a slight clearing of his throat. "We cannot overlook the fact that he abandoned his village to ally himself with one of our enemies. The very man who killed Sandaime. Or had you forgotten?"

Naruto glowered at the man above him.

"You were a part of the genin team assigned to retrieve Uchiha, weren't you?" Koharu contributed.

Naruto ground his teeth together to keep himself from yelling that he would never forget that mission, any more than he could forget what Orochimaru had done to Sandaime, or how the old man's death had taught him the first lesson about why bonds could be so painful.

"He made a mistake," Naruto finally ground out. "I know that."

A deep breath filled Naruto's lungs with much-needed oxygen. He was beginning to wonder if holding his breath was a good idea.

"So put him on probation. He's still a genin." It was a crazy plan, and Shikamaru hadn't thought it would work. But Naruto needed to make them consider other options. "The Sharingan is an important tool for Konoha."

"Uchiha isn't the problem." Danzo's cool voice finally broke into the argument.

Naruto raised his eyes to meet the man's shadowed gaze.

"The one putting Konoha in danger," Danzo announced, "is you."

Homura and Koharu showed no reaction to Danzo's pronouncement, which made Naruto that much angrier. They couldn't _agree_ with this damned old fool, could they?

"Even now, the leader of Akatsuki is attacking the village," continued the wounded shinobi, "looking for the _jinchuuriki_ of the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_."

The chains binding Naruto's arms rattled fiercely as he jerked in his place.

"So, why the _hell_ aren't you fighting?!" he shouted. "Isn't this your home, too!"

The two advisors, those who had been Sandaime's teammates, had the decency to look away from Naruto's heated outburst; although the boy couldn't tell if that was an accomplishment or not. Danzo simply continued staring blankly at the _jinchuuriki_ in front of him.

"You pose a threat to this village, Uzumaki Naruto."

Naruto hung his head as his mind raced. Akatsuki was after the _bijuu_; the only reason the leader would attack Konoha would be to get to him. He couldn't say Danzo was lying about that. If Naruto drew danger to Konoha as long as he was there—

"As long as you live—"

"Set me free, and I'll give you all what you want," Naruto interrupted him suddenly.

He wasn't confident enough in his abilities to think that Danzo's sudden silence meant he was going to agree. But Naruto could only think of this for a solution. As long as he could get Danzo to agree to it, everyone would be saved.

"How exactly do you propose to do that?" demanded Homura as Danzo watched on in silence.

Naruto's eyes snapped brightly in the scant light, making them seem like lights—their own set of stars in the darkness.

"I'd die to protect Konoha," Naruto declared.

**o0O0o**

Nara Shikamaru did not like to fight. He had announced this to his team when he first made genin just so that their teacher, a tall man who constantly smelled like cigarette smoke, wouldn't expect too much from him. So, Shikamaru was intelligent enough to see the irony in his current situation, running along the roofs of Konoha in a desperate attempt to get to where the fighting was thickest.

His brain was racing at such a pace that Shikamaru could practically feel his neurons firing. Akatsuki had attacked from the south, at the main gate opposite from Hokage Mountain, but now it seemed there were several points of entry where shinobi had reported encountering a man with a scratched through _hitai-ate_ from Amegakure: Pein. There were at least three different bodies, and if the code from Jiraiya-sama had been correctly interpreted none of those bodies were the real Pein.

As he leaped past the stadium that had once hosted the Chuunin Exams, Shikamaru saw a familiar figure just standing on the flat roof of a large apartment complex in a manner completely unprecedented from Konoha's Number One Hyperactive Surprising Ninja. Shikamaru skidded to an almost-stop then changed his direction abruptly.

"Naruto!" he called as he landed on the building the two Narutos shared.

The figures were identical, which was to be expected with Naruto's Kage Bunshin, right down to their haggard appearance and lack of forehead protector. Naruto's jacket was also strangely missing, leaving him in a pair of dark pants and a faded orange shirt with a red circle on its back, like the patches on the backs of the chuunin vests. He held the thin strip of metal that usually adorned his forehead in one limp hand.

"Naruto, Pein is—"

"Yeah," Naruto interrupted quickly. A turn of his head revealed a bruise across his right cheekbone.

"Were you fighting him?"

"Huh?" Both pairs of blue eyes focused suddenly, sharply, onto Shikamaru. "No. This isn't— Where is Pein now?"

"According to reports, several places," scoffed Shikamaru while his eyes scanned over Konoha. "He has at least three bodies here."

Naruto followed his gaze to where a team of ANBU used a quick succession of ninjutsu to take down a large creature, some kind of combination between a lion and a lizard.

"I only need to get the attention of one of them," Naruto declared firmly.

Shikamaru frowned and looked back and his companion. What was Naruto planning? As if he sensed the other boy's gaze, Naruto turned back to Shikamaru.

"Pein is after the _bijuu_," he reminded Shikamaru. "He won't attack the village if the _jinchuuriki_ isn't here."

Shikamaru raised his eyebrows at Naruto's determination. He knew what his friend was; it was impossible not to when Akatsuki was after him. And it didn't take a genius to figure out what had happened to the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_. There were actually very few ways to fight a tailed beast. But Naruto never called attention to his situation. Even when he was fighting Akatsuki, Naruto always maintained that he was protecting his comrades not saving his own skin.

"You want to try to draw him out with Kage Bunshin?" Shikamaru tried to confirm.

Naruto cast a quick glance at his mirror image that had remained silent.

"Something like that," replied the blond.

"Your new jutsu?" Shikamaru really wished he knew what was going through Naruto's mind. He had seen Naruto practicing a new jutsu only once, when he had come across the boy training with a vehemence previously seen only in Uchiha Sasuke. Shikamaru was intelligent enough to see the irony.

Naruto turned to face Shikamaru fully and grinned triumphantly.

"Yeah, I finally figured it out," he announced.

Naruto studied the village again. The strange summoned creature had been subdued, but there were still calls for help in the southern district. Shikamaru was pretty sure that the smoke billowing from the west side of the village was another point of Pein's entry into Konoha. Then, Naruto raised his hands into a simple cross, and his body was enveloped in smoke a moment later. Shikamaru was unsurprised at the sight of three identical Narutos once the smoke died down.

"Take these two with you and find Pein," Naruto suddenly commanded. "Tell whichever body you run into first that I'll be on top of the mountain."

"What are you going to do once he knows you're there?" Shikamaru nearly glared at him and wondered if he should even bother trying to impress upon Naruto the need for a proper strategy.

Naruto just smiled back at the genius.

"Don't worry, Shikamaru." He raised both hands and tied the _hitai-ate_ across his brow once again. "It's not exactly one of your plans, but it's going to work. I never go back on my word. That's my _nindo_."

Shikamaru believed that. And somehow, he also believed that Naruto had a plan. After all, it _had _been Naruto who defeated Kazuku of the Akatsuki. Shikamaru nodded and turned away, sprinting once again for the west gate, where the report of attack had originated. He saw the two clones flanking him on either side from the corner of his eye. Even as mere forms of chakra, Naruto seemed determine to make sure Shikamaru reached his destination.

Shikamaru frowned in the direction of Naruto's back and hoped, somewhat futilely, that his friend wasn't about to do something stupidly reckless. It wasn't only that Naruto made Shikamaru want to walk with him, the way the younger Nara had told his father. Naruto made people want to _follow _him.

**o0O0o**

"Run!"

The cry came up from the streets of Konoha amidst the confusion and chaos. Despite the people of Konoha not knowing who was attacking or where or why, one thing remained clear: Get away from the giant centipede.

The creature barreled down the narrow streets of the village, tearing up sections of the buildings that lined the road as it chased down the mob of people in front of it. A young girl, no more than five years old, suddenly tripped over a small divot in the hard, packed-dirt streets and skidded forward on her knees.

"Tami!" an older woman called desperately. The beast was almost upon the girl.

Suddenly, the crowd heard a cry of outrage above the roaring of the summoned animal and the frightened cries of the people surrounding them. A young woman leaped into the path of the centipede with her fist cocked close to her ear.

"Bastard!" Haruno Sakura yelled. She swung her fist in a wide right hook that landed directly in the creature's torso—as much as a centipede could _have _a torso.

But at least it succeeded in stopping the giant insect in its tracks.

Sakura gave the centipede a cursory glance to confirm that it wasn't moving then turned to face the crowd.

"Are you all right?" she asked the girl gently.

Sakura heard someone in the crowd marvel at the strength contained in a single punch, but she ignored any reference to her "brutish strength." There were certain specific advantages to being the apprentice of Tsunade-sama. Smiling reassuringly at the girl, Sakura held a glowing green hand over the child's skinned knee. Luckily, the girl's wound wasn't deep, only a bit dirty from the road.

"Sakura!"

Sakura looked up to see a man of medium height with a scar across the bridge of his nose as the only defining feature in his face.

"Iruka-sensei!" She breathed a slight sigh of relief. As strong as she knew she was, there was something about her former teachers that always put Sakura more at ease. It was hard to feel panicked in the presence of a man who had patched up her knee when she herself had fallen to the ground.

"Are you all right?" Iruka demanded.

Sakura nodded, not entirely sure if Iruka was referring to his former student or the girl who was racing into her mother's arms.

"Fine," she answered for the both of them. "But where did that thing come from?"

"It's Akatsuki," said Iruka heavily. "They're attacking the village."

"What!" Sakura shot to her feet. "Naruto! Where's Naruto?"

Shikamaru had disappeared from the codebreakers when the first shakings began, and Ino had rushed off to find her father. Sakura still didn't know where Naruto was, and he was the one in the most danger.

"It's all right, Sakura." Iruka rested one hand on her shoulder. "Naruto won't be captured. No one in Konoha would allow it. And he has dedicated friends to help him."

Sakura bit her lip and nodded. Naruto had a way of drawing people to him. All of the genin he had graduated with were now considered his friends, and even some of the older jounin had seen his determination and skill. He had defeated one of the Akatsuki on his own and helped fight against several others. Naruto had even kept the promise everyone else expected him to give up on.

Naruto had brought Sasuke back to Konoha.

**o0O0o**

Kakashi tried to remember a time—no more than three minutes ago—when he could say breathing came naturally instead of having to concentrate on every inhalation so that it wouldn't pierce his chest like a kunai. The debris around him pinned his arms to his sides, his left arm jutted out at an awkward angle. If he let himself think about it, he could easily catalogue his cracked—probably broken—ribs and the long scrape down his left forearm.

Still, Kakashi found he could breath a bit easier when Chouza and his son pounded the enemy into the ground.

"You okay, Kakashi?" Chouza asked without taking his eyes from the pale man with light red hair in front of him.

Kakashi shifted his right shoulder to move some of the debris that had him pinned. Freeing first one arm then the other, he carefully extracted himself from the dilapidated remnants of the building, refusing to consider that he was actually feeling tired. He had already performed _Chidori_ and _Raikiri_, plus that Lightning Clone in order to give the Akimichi the opportunity to use their _Bubun Baika no Jutsu_.

"I'm down to about half my chakra," Kakashi answered honestly.

"So that's Pein?" Chouji asked, his eyes narrowing at the enemy.

Kakashi felt no need to confirm—the dark cloak with red clouds pretty much gave the answer away, anyway. But the reinforcements gathered around the destroyed area were listening closely. Chouza tensed and raised one hand.

"Now!" His voice boomed from deep within his gut.

Five ninja, an Akimichi among them as well as a retired ANBU that Kakashi recognized, all prepared their attacks. Kakashi kept his borrowed left eye fixed on Pein, expecting the same reaction as before. Beneath the yells and the chaos, he barely heard Pein's whispered attack.

"_Shinra Tensei_."

Kakashi felt himself being pushed back by something invisible, like a block of wind had decided he would advance no further. As he sailed through the air, Kakashi grabbed a kunai from his pouch, his fingers trailing over it to make sure it was the one he wanted. Still flying backwards, Kakashi flung the kunai at Pein and felt a sharp stab of vindication when Pein dodged the kunai. The blade whizzed by his face, and the smoke bomb attacked to the handle sizzled and exploded.

It was worth the crash into the wall to get the insight into this strange power. Kakashi felt a large hand drag him back to sit up, his back braced against a concrete section of wall between him and his comrades and Pein.

"What the hell was that!" yelled Chouji.

"That's Pein's power," Kakashi replied.

His eye scanned his surroundings to locate the rest of the shinobi that had been pushed back by Pein's unusual ability. He spotted two of them on the ground beyond his hiding place, groaning but otherwise alive. Kakashi glanced to Chouji then met the eyes of the older Akimichi on his other side.

"Somehow, he's able to pull and push attacks from his center," Kakashi explained, "both physical and ninjutsu, as if he controls gravity and repulsion forces. But he doesn't seem to be able to use them in quick succession."

His kunai had proved that. Pein had been forced to dodge the smoke bomb after he used that _Shinra Tensei_ to avoid the other shinobi attacks. It was a pity Kakashi hadn't had any more deadly tags available, but at least the smoke bomb had given him what he needed to know.

"There's an interval before he can use that power again." Kakashi shifted his weight to his knees, a plan already forming in his mind. "It's short, but that's our window."

Chouza nodded once. Kakashi had outranked the man for years as ANBU, and it was easy to fall into old roles. But a sharp cry stopped Kakashi from saying anything further.

"Chouji!"

The three Konoha ninja turned as one to see Chouji's first, and best, friend making his way over the scattered pieces of construction now blocking the streets.

"Shikamaru," Chouji greeted the young man.

Kakashi's mind was already flitting over possibilities, ways he could incorporate Shikamaru into the next attack on Pein. Or maybe Shikamaru himself would have some new information based on the autopsy Shizune was supposed to be performing or the codebreakers' discovery. Shikamaru just knelt down in front of the trio and looked directly at Kakashi.

"You guys might want to wait on whatever plan you got," Shikamaru suggested calmly, though his face was nowhere near the uncaring glamour Kakashi was used to. "The wild card just arrived."

Kakashi frowned at the genius. Shikamaru didn't look worried, which factored in their favor. But what was the—

_ "Oi_, bastard!" a familiar voice demanded attention the way only Naruto could.

Both of Kakashi's eyes snapped open, neglecting the sudden shift in perception and the drain of his already limited chakra stores. But he could clearly see Naruto standing on top of the wall of what had once been a candy store. The young man wasn't dressed for battle at all, with his shorts and a plain shirt. But his fists were planted firmly on his hips as he gazed down at the battlefield with a cocky grin.

"Aren't you looking for someone?" Naruto demanded, obviously not bothered that Pein was gazing steadily back up at him.

"Naruto!" Chouji called worriedly.

"What is he thinking?" growled Chouza.

Kakashi nearly agreed with the man aloud but for the fact that forcing the enemy's attention on him instead of his allies was something that Uzumaki Naruto would have no problem doing. He knew that Akatsuki was after him, and he had been determined to defeat the rogue group himself ever since Asuma's death. But Shikamaru's face was perfectly calm in the face of Naruto's foolish act.

"I wouldn't worry about him," muttered the young Nara. "He says he has a plan."

Naruto's plan apparently consisted of shouting insults down at Akatsuki's leader to keep him occupied. Kakashi wasn't sure if Naruto knew he was keeping Pein's focus on him or if his most exuberant student was simply being as annoying as people labeled him. Kakashi forced the thought from his mind. He needed to take advantage of the distraction while he could.

"He needs to know about Pein's power," Kakashi interjected. He didn't know if it was wise, this faith he had in his student. Pein was in a different class even from Kazuku.

  "What power?"

The voice, while easily recognized, was enough of a surprise to make Kakashi look over his shoulder, past Chouza to the blond boy crouching down to join in the impromptu field rally.

"Naruto?" Chouji questioned.

The blond just grinned and held up his hands in the sign that always precluded his most utilized jutsu.

"Two places at once," the clone explained then gestured carelessly to the bright boy on top of the wall. "Even that one's not real. Now we just gotta find the rest of Pein's bodies."

"Naruto, listen . . ." Kakashi seized the opportunity to repeat what he had found about Pein's power. When Naruto's face fell into a confused frown, Kakashi revamped the explanation with examples of whirlpools and windstorms and thought nothing of it.

"Okay." Naruto's clone nodded formally. "Got it."

"Tell him not to do anything too troublesome," Shikamaru interjected suddenly.

The clone looked at Shikamaru, eyes widened in surprise for a moment, and then grinned.

"Nah," he answered. "That's your department, Nara."

The figure raised his hands again into the cross seal and disappeared with a faint whisper. Chouji was the first to pop his head over the barrier to see what was going on. The bright figure on the wall was still smiling when Pein stretched out one hand as if to call the boy to him. Kakashi's Sharingan eye watched the body sail through the air and land with Pein's hand clutched around its throat. The clone's lips moved softly, but Kakashi couldn't discern what was said. He only saw the clone dispel and Pein's ringed eyes glance up to Hokage Mountain. Then, without a word, Pein took off in a burst of chakra, flitting over the battered landscape in pursuit of his target.

"Will he be all right?" Chouza asked in the wake of Pein's retreat.

"Naruto lives up to Konoha's Most Surprising Ninja," replied Kakashi. "You should believe in him."

"He said he completed his latest jutsu," admitted Shikamaru. "He's not going in unprepared."

"He won't be going in alone, either," Chouji growled in agreement.

Kakashi nodded, pushing himself to his feet.

"All right. We'll provide the back-up for Naruto. Shikamaru, you—"

Kakashi cut himself off as a slow clicking sound rose up from the barren and cracked ground in front of him. Kakashi's eyes widened as the thick body of Pein that had previously been in a crater thanks to the Akimichi techniques slowly rose to its feet. It unfurled its fake limbs and scorpion-like tail as the wide, blank eyes stared at the four Konoha nin frozen in the midst of their planning.

"Ah, hell," Chouji muttered.

**o0O0o**

His guards, being ANBU, had been called away to deal with more important matters than looking after a wayward prisoner, especially when their charge was so chakra-deprived that he couldn't even use his own eyes.

However, their absence did make it easy for Sasuke to climb out the window of his assigned hospital room, where he had spent the past week, to perch on the roof of the hospital and try to determine what was going on.

The chaos and cries of applied chakra could only mean a battle, but Sasuke couldn't pinpoint the enemy. Granted, studying his surroundings would have been much easier with his nefarious bloodline, but the dark marks at his temples cut off any idea of the sort. Deeming him to be dangerous, Tsunade had applied seals on Sasuke's temples that halted all but the barest minimum of chakra flow to his eyes. Enough for his nerves and blood vessels to remain functioning but not nearly enough to activate the Sharingan.

But even without the Sharingan, it was nearly impossible to miss the orange blur currently streaking across the rooftops of Konoha. Sasuke could only stare as Naruto's head swiveled, gathering information even as he bolted for whatever his target was. Naruto faced almost fully forward before his head snapped back around and pinned Sasuke with a demanding gaze.

"Sasuke!" Naruto landed in front of him more exuberantly than gracefully. "What are you doing? They let you out of the hospital?"

"Shut up," Sasuke growled, more because he didn't want to hear Naruto's assumptions than anything.

Sasuke cast his dark eyes across the village once more.

"What's going on?" he demanded, seeing the chaos around him.

"Pein's attacking," Naruto answered shortly.

Sasuke let his eyes turn to his friend standing beside him. Naruto's eyes were fixed firmly on his village. His eyebrows just beneath his _hitai-ate_ furrowed together in an expression that was more worry than the puzzlement Sasuke remembered being a part of Naruto. Suddenly, Naruto focused singularly onto the mountain behind the Hokage Tower. Even without the Sharingan, Sasuke saw the boy's muscles tense and knees bend in preparation to jump. Without quite having a plan, Sasuke's hand shot out and grabbed Naruto's arm.

"What are you doing?" He glared at Naruto the way he used to when he was thirteen. Funny how easy it was to fall into old patterns.

Naruto glared right back.

"Let go, _teme_!"

He tried to pull his arm away, but Sasuke refused to let go. He wasn't that weak.

"I have to get him out of Konoha."

Naruto's eyes weren't as angry now, but they still reminded Sasuke strangely of his own Chidori. Sasuke realized then that he meant to fight against Pein.

"How?" Sasuke shot back. "You think you're going to convince him to leave? You won't be able to beat him."

"How do you know?" Naruto cried, indignant. "You have no idea what I can do now, Sasuke. You never stuck around long enough to find out."

Sasuke wouldn't admit that Naruto had a point; he had no reason to stay before. Naruto had just been an annoyance—but no, that wasn't true anymore. Sasuke didn't have anything left, except what Naruto had offered him: a brother.

Naruto ground his teeth together, and Sasuke could hear the crack of his companion's teeth, despite the loud cries coming from the village.

"He's after the _bijuu_," Naruto explained shortly. "He'll follow me out."

Naruto was planning to act as bait? Did the _dobe _even have a proper plan?

"And then what?" Sasuke asked leadingly. "You're not strong enough to defeat him."

Naruto's smile showed no teeth; it was as if Naruto thought he had some great secret.

"Don't you know, Sasuke?" His muscles relaxed under Sasuke's grip. "People are only at their strongest when they have something to protect. You'll understand that when it's your turn to protect something."

Naruto was staring straight at Sasuke now, and the Uchiha found he didn't want to look away.

"You once said I didn't know what it was like to lose a family," accused Naruto. "I know now."

Sasuke said nothing to acknowledge what he had once said. He truly thought Naruto hadn't known anything about family. But he knew that the Sannin Jiraiya was dead, killed by this same Pein.

"So, now _you're_ after vengeance?" The reversal struck a harsh chord of dissonance somewhere in Sasuke.

"No." Naruto's face was suddenly serious. "I'm going to make sure he doesn't take any more of my family away. Including my brother."

The fact that Naruto called him a brother wasn't surprising to Sasuke. He had heard it three years ago. He was more surprised that Naruto still believed it. Sasuke released his retaining hold on his friend's arm. Suddenly, Naruto smiled widely, showing off a row of teeth that made his face seem young. The sight renewed Sasuke's annoyance at the simple plan—if it could be called that.

"What if he captures you?" demanded Sasuke. Even _he _knew what Akatsuki was after.

"He won't capture me," Naruto stated.

He raised both hands in a cross in front of his chest and suddenly there were two identical figures of the _jinchuuriki_ on the roof in front of Sasuke. Both were grinning inanely.

"He won't even catch me."

One of the figures dug into his pockets and brought out a small white ball, like a pill. Tossing it to his double, Naruto tensed again before he jumped off the hospital roof. The second Naruto popped the pill into his mouth and followed his clone. Sasuke watched both figures leap off the roof and continue running for the Hokage Tower to the north. His eyes narrowed. The fool would probably get himself in trouble if he went on his own. Ignoring the restrictions—both verbal and physical—that had been placed on him, Sasuke focused all his chakra to his feet. Just before he took off, a dark figure in a white mask landed on the roof beside him, just where Naruto had been a moment ago.

"Uchiha Sasuke," the ANBU addressed him coldly, "you have been ordered to remain in the hospital for the duration of the attack."

Sasuke stared at the masked shinobi with ice in his dark eyes.

"Stop me," he challenged, and took off with a leap that propelled him to the next building, following Naruto.

**o0O0o**

Naruto flew over the trees on the raised ground overlooking Konoha and glanced over his shoulder. Pein, the one with light red hair that looked orange in direct sunlight, was still following him, although he was kind of slowed down by the trail of clones Naruto was leaving behind. Naruto saw two clones dissapate slowly in front of Pein. They weren't lasting long at this rate.

As the smoke from the dispelled clones slowly faded into the air, Pein remained where he was, just staring at his prey. Naruto dug his heels into the ground to stop himself and turned to face Pein. He could still see the dust billowing from Konoha behind Pein, but the man's attention was focused only on Naruto.

"Uzumaki Naruto," Pein called. "You will be captured."

"Nope," Naruto responded. "Don't think so."

Naruto pasted on a wide grin that crinkled his eyes. He kept watching his enemy through the slits that his eyes made, but Pein never advanced. He raised his hands and held his arms carefully out from his body, as if presenting himself as a target.

"I killed Jiraiya when he invaded my territory in Ame," Pein persisted. "Do you not wish to kill me as well?"

That wiped the smile off Naruto's face quite successfully.

"Hell, yeah." He shot Pein a hot glare that burned cold in his light eyes. "But that won't help the people I care about. Jiraiya wanted people to understand each other. If we can't, then at least I can stop you from attacking Konoha."

"Then, you wish to protect them?" the leader of Akatsuki confirmed. "That is a wish I understand."

Naruto couldn't find a response to that. He had known that he wanted to protect his precious people since he was twelve years old and his teacher declared he was a proud member of Konohagakure. But someone like Pein, how could he understand?

"Your friends killed someone precious to me as well," began Pein. "Konoha nin attacked my home during the Third Secret War. The justice I wish to mete out to Konoha is the same justice you wish to mete out to me: The justice that derives from hating the ones who took from us."

Naruto gritted his teeth together and swallowed back all the words he wanted to say, mostly curses, instead of spitting them from his mouth.

"And yet you share Jiraiya's wish for peace," noted Pein. "How would you suggest we rid ourselves of such hatred?"

Naruto only hung his head low until his chin touched his chest as he shook his head despondently.

"You do not have an answer," the leader of Akatsuki concluded at Naruto's continued silence.

Naruto sensed more than saw that Pein was through talking. He had to work fast if this was going to work. He was already a little surprised that Pein hadn't caught on yet. Maybe the _nuke-nin_ was too focused on the _jinchuuriki_ himself to notice what Naruto had left behind. Now he just needed to get the timing right. Naruto raised his hands and created two more clones as a barrier between him and Pein. Then he bit through the skin on his thumb and slammed his palm on the ground.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_!"

A wizened old toad appeared at Naruto's feet in the puff of smoke that resulted.

"Get ready, Pa!" Naruto commanded.

"Ya better know what yer doin'!" called back Fukusaku.

Naruto only fixed his eyes on his enemy as his clones rushed at Pein. Pein barely looked at either of them as he extended both his hands and exerted his strange power again, pulling the clones towards himself from either side. This was the power Kakashi-sensei had explained: an ability to push or pull things from his center. A large black spear appeared in either of Pein's hands and skewered the figures flying towards him. Naruto nodded towards Fukusaku. That was his cue.

**o0O0o**

As the smoke cleared from around Pein, he could see the _jinchuuriki_ standing before him. The boy was calm and rested his fists on his hips as the sun glinted off the wide strip of metal across his forehead. The _Kyuubi no jinchuuriki_ was becoming problematic. Pein's Rinnegan eyes stared at his prey, determined not to frown at the puzzle he saw through his dead friend's eyes. He tilted his head slightly and tried to see, tried to _remember_, why this boy was different from what he expected. But then, thoughts disappeared and there was only the goal. Neither of them were moving, but Pein didn't think to wonder about Uzumaki's strategy. Even a demon could not fight a god, and Itachi had reported that Uzumaki Naruto had very little control over Kyuubi.

Pein wondered if the boy realized that this distraction he had demanded—to chase him over the mountain that overlooked the Village Hidden in the Leaves—had no effect on the village he was leaving behind. The remaining paths were still within Konoha and, despite the persistence of the Leaf nin, still making quite a mess of the village. It would have been helpful had one of the other paths been able to converge on his location to help with the _jinchuuriki_, but the Asura Path was currently engaging a man Pein recognized as Hatake Kakashi. That one could be problematic. The Animal Path's summons were systematically being taken down by the shinobi of Konoha, and any attempt to intimidate the citizens by the Naraka Path was thwarted by the summons of Godaime Hokage, who was doing a very fine job of keeping her citizens alive.

Pein would be impressed by their abilities if these people weren't standing in the way of his goal. The Uchiha with only one eye was taking care of the Hachibi; Pein's responsibility was the Kyuubi, a boy who looked more of a youth than he had been warned of. The shadow surrounded Pein for a moment as he stood on the high ground to the north of Konohagakure. The village was about a kilometer behind him, but his prey was directly in front.

Now, there was only the boy standing before Pein. He suspected it would not be very difficult to incapacitate the _jinchuuriki_ without killing it. Then he needed to keep it subdued until he could transport the human sacrifice to the cave. With so few members of Akatsuki left, the boy would need to be present for the extraction. All the other Paths would have to participate as well, but it was necessary for Pein's goal.

"There is no other way," Pein stated, just so that Uzumaki would know what was to come. "You have been a sacrifice since the day you were born."

The words were meant to rile the boy, but Uzumaki only clenched a fist tightly by his side.

"You want a sacrifice?" Uzumaki demanded. "Fine."

Uzumaki darted forward with his fist cocked back. Pein lifted one hand and held out his palm to the boy. At a single command, Uzumaki's heels lifted off the ground, but the boy's face was determined as opposed to panicked. He brought his hands together and shouted into the wind caused by Pein's special ability.

"Kage Bunshin no Jutsu."

The clone that appeared between Uzumaki and Pein was an annoyance at worst. Pein held a sharpened chakra sensor in his right hand steadily and waited for the impact. The cloud of smoke he had expected, but the extended arm with a kunai pointed at his face was a blatant attack that Pein hadn't foreseen. He was too early for his _Banshou Tenin_, so he jerked to the left, swinging his extended arm in a wide arc as he did.

A slight resistance against the black weapon in his hand told Pein that he had found his target. He felt the kunai graze his ear as it sailed past his head, and he twisted further to one side, ending with his feet planted firmly in the dry ground of the plateau. Pein looked to his left to find his target again. Uzumaki gritted his teeth together as he wrapped one arm around his stomach. A dark stain spread from under his arm, coating the belly of the thin shirt he wore. A wound like that would be debilitating if it continued to bleed, which only worked in Pein's favor.

"You still continue to fight," Pein noted, "when your goal is the same as Akatsuki's."

"It's _not _the same!" Uzumaki cried.

"We both desire peace."

In a part of his mind that wasn't entirely his, Pein felt the presence of the other Paths leave Konoha. They were no longer needed in the village.

"That is why I need the power of _Kyuubi_." Pein watched Uzumaki falter on his feet once then struggle to rise again. "When everyone experiences that pain, the fear of such power will bring peace to the world."

"That's not peace," growled Uzumaki. "That's just a lie. Peace isn't when people are too scared to fight against you. Jiraiya thought there could be a world where people understood each other."

"And how would you suggest this come about?"

There was no answer forthcoming. In truth, he hadn't expected one from the boy. His own answer would end the wars in the world, if only because no one would have the power to stand against the _bijuu_. If it required sacrifice on his part, if it required becoming a tyrant—even a god—he would do it. And his best friend would see a world of peace through Nagato's eyes.

"Naruto!"

The voice was a new one to the fight, and convinced Pein to turn his head to his left to take in the new sight. A dark boy, about the same age as the _jinchuuriki _he was currently pursuing, glared at the ongoing battle as he raced toward the standoff.

"Sasuke-teme!" Uzumaki shouted back angrily. The effort made him double over as both arms encircled his torso.

"A distraction," Pein decided.

He held out one hand to the newcomer as if he would stop the boy in his tracks.

"_Banshou Tenin_."

He saw the dark eyes widen as his own force drew the boy faster than he wanted, than he even knew was possible. Pein allowed a chakra sensor slip from his sleeve to point at the boy. He would know his impending death and be helpless to stop it.

"Let him go!"

Uzumaki started running faster than he should have been able to with such a wound. He didn't stop even when he got caught up in Pein's force of attraction; he only fixed his eyes on Pein's weapon and flipped a short kunai in his hand. As both boys flew towards Pein, Uzumaki suddenly was on a collision course with his comrade. Then, the dark boy collided with Uzumaki's side.

"What are you doing?" the dark one demanded with what little breath he managed to steal from Pein's vacuum.

Uzumaki dug his kunai into the ground instead of responding. His hands were free of his belly, and more than blood was escaping from the large slice through his abdomen. Uzumaki wrapped one blood-stained arm around his friend's body and cried out as opposing forces dragged his body in either direction. Pein was still trying to draw his prey in, and Uzumaki's kunai was not a solid enough anchor to keep him in one place.

Pein watched the duo struggle for a moment before Uzumaki looked at Pein and released the kunai. Pein would be able to pin down the extra and take care of his target. Then, suddenly, Uzumaki turned. Pein couldn't even see what the boy had used as leverage, but suddenly Uzumaki had his back to Pein, impaled on the black chakra sensor through his chest. The cloth around the boy's head loosened and fell free, the metal glinting briefly in the sunlight.

The shock on the dark boy's face—the one actually facing the leader of Akatsuki—held none of the pain of an injury. Uzumaki had taken the hit for his friend. Did he think that his death would also keep the _bijuu_ away from Akatsuki? A _jinchuuriki _was not so easily disposed of, even by Akatsuki. Pein withdrew the spear in Uzumaki's chest and reached a free hand for the body, already bleeding from the hole just created in his chest.

Then, a shiruken passed through the corner of Pein's vision. He jerked to one side to avoid it. If he used his _Shinra Tensei_, he could end up causing more damage to the vessel of _Kyuubi_ than he wanted. A team of Konoha ninja had appeared on the battlefield. This was growing annoying, and there was something else. Something he could feel wasn't right. Casting one last glance at the fallen Uzumaki, Pein shifted his attention onto the ANBU forces rallying against him.

**o0O0o**

"Naruto!"

Sasuke felt his eyes burn and deliberately ignored it. He decided not to think about the way he could see every wound on Naruto's body in detail as the boy fell. He hardly noticed the pale man, studded in every available patch of skin, leap backwards to avoid an onslaught of kunai from the ANBU now on the scene. Sasuke only saw Naruto on the ground. Bleeding.

"Naruto," Sasuke called again.

The thought flitted through his mind that he should have been shouting out insults. At least his friend would have responded to _those_. But then he was already kneeling beside the boy laying in bright colors; red mixing with orange, staining the fabric of his shirt darker than it should have been.

"Ow," breathed Naruto softly. "This is gonna hurt."

"Stay still, _dobe_," Sasuke commanded when Naruto started reaching out and clawing his way into the ground with his right hand, as if he were going to pull himself along in his damaged state.

He had done that once before, Sasuke remembered. Pulling himself along the ground towards an enemy who had threatened his team, and only giving up when Sasuke had told him that Sakura was fine. Sasuke quickly took in his surroundings. The ANBU were still beating back Pein—or getting beat back themselves, the whole thing was so destructive and covered so much ground that Sasuke wasn't entirely sure who was winning. But among the ANBU, there were no white aprons that signified _iryou-nin_. Tsunade was still at the Hokage Tower, trying to protect her village while one of her greatest citizens was dying next to Sasuke.

"Sasuke," Naruto muttered.

Sasuke looked back to where Naruto's tongue slipped through his cracked lips to spit out a dribble of blood that trickled pathetically down his chin. He felt Naruto's hand come up to press into his chest. But he wasn't pushing Sasuke away, or grabbing his shirt to pull him closer. It was like something was weighing on Sasuke, pressing on his heart or his lungs. Naruto's mouth turned up into something like a smile as his lips tried to form words. Hardly recognizing his own movements, Sasuke leaned closer until his forehead hovered over Naruto's.

"_Now _it's your turn."

Sasuke blinked once, only once. But it was enough time for Naruto's bright, snapping eyes to drift closed. The pressure disappeared from Sasuke's chest, and he felt something drop into his lap.

"Naruto." Sasuke was suddenly panicked. Naruto wasn't supposed to sleep; it was bad if he slept before the med-nin could get to him. "_Dobe_, open your eyes. Naruto!"

"Sasuke!"

The voice was almost hard to place without the abject hero-worship that had always labeled him as "Sasuke-kun." But Sasuke recognized it a moment before he saw the cropped pink head of hair bounding over to him. Sasuke didn't move as Sakura practically skidded the remainder of the distance to Naruto on her knees and immediately tore his shirt open to see the deep, dark wound across his abdomen

"He's bleeding out." Sakura's pale hands closed over the sliced skin, trying to force the flesh to knit itself back together.

But there was another wound on Naruto's chest, an almost perfect hole near his heart. Sasuke shivered in remembrance then forcibly shoved all feeling to the pit of his stomach and buried it under the sinking lead weight already there.

"No!" Sakura suddenly cried out, her eyes wide.

Her hands shifted from the sluggishly bleeding wound on Naruto's stomach to the hole over his chest. Sakura pressed her palms over the wound as if she would fill it in with chakra alone.

"No, no, no, no." She couldn't stop repeating herself.

"Stop it," Sasuke murmured.

He had seen enough in Orochimaru's base, even earlier, to know. Naruto's face was slack, his eyes closed, and his body was slowly losing its warmth. But Sakura kept her glowing hands on Naruto's chest even as her eyes watered desperately.

"Naruto!"

"Stop it, Sakura!" Sasuke grabbed the hand resting on Naruto's chest and glared at Sakura. "He's dead."

"No," Sakura sobbed. "He isn't. He kept his promise. He can't die."

Sasuke didn't know what promise she was talking about, but Sakura's increasingly soggy face was growing painful to see. Sasuke's eyes dropped to his lap, expecting to see Naruto's limp hand. But the tan hand of his friend lay on the crimson-stained ground by Sasuke's knee. On his lap lay a band of metal embedded in a black bandanna. In the center of the metal was Konoha's symbol, a swirled leaf marred with four bloody fingerprints.

**o0O0o**

It was sunny on the day of the funeral. Some of the mourners remembered saying goodbye to the Sandaime in the pouring rain and thought the weather should fashion itself into something more like that, something more appropriate. Instead, the sun mocked the funeral-goers, like Uzumaki Naruto was smiling in the sky above them, grinning still in the wide, happy way only he could.

Most of the people gathered at the memorial field of the desperately green village were crying. Honestly, by now, most of them knew that it would be a disgrace not to cry. Sarutobi Konohamaru stood in the front lines and _bawled_, tears running down his cheeks and a combination of snot and salty water streaming from his nose and making a general mess of his face. He didn't seem to notice even as he hid his eyes in the crook of his arm. Everyone around him tried desperately to ignore his display except for Moegi, who used the long scarf around Konohamaru's neck in an attempt to mop up his face while her own was stained with tears as well.

Naruto's comrades made up the front lines of the crowd, and no one dared begrudge them their place. Hyuuga Hinata bit her lip while she wept silently, no catch of breath to signal the start of her sobs. Inuzuka Kiba lifted one hand to place on her shoulder but then fisted hard. His knuckles turned as white as her eyes as a gasp of "Naruto-kun" escaped her bruised lips. The fang-marked boy pressed his teeth together in a silent growl and turned his face away as people pretended not to see the wetness in his eyes.

They had buried Naruto quickly, unable to hide the hole in his chest or his sliced stomach after death. But the white carnation, still clutched in the hands of a girl on the brink of being a young woman, was the only bright color in the crowd other than Haruno Sakura's cherry blossom hair. She approached the memorial cautiously, as though her feet were made of lead, and gently laid her flower on top of the white carpet that already covered the stone. Then she returned to the crowd and began to sob loudly. No one stopped her.

No words were spoken at his funeral. No one could find something appropriate to say. Even Tsunade, dressed in the robes she never wore and holding the treasured hat in one hand, overlooked the proceedings with a somber gaze. Beyond the young adults dressed in black, those of a single generation raised to defend and protect their home, stood the adults who had overseen their training and learning. Maito Gai watched his students their friends in front of him as silent tears tracked down his cheeks at the loss of life. Yuuhi Kurenai stood beside him as she rubbed her hand over her swollen belly and kept her eyes fixed firmly on the memorial stone where so many names had already been carved. Too many names.

At the back of the large crowd, Uchiha Sasuke stood as if he were made of stone. He was only allowed at the ceremony because of his actions during the attack and because his guards had requested that he be allowed to attend. It helped that Hatake Kakashi, who was nearly fully healed from his bout of chakra depletion, had agreed to watch the failed Sharingan holder. Sasuke didn't seem interested in staring at the cold memorial or the funeral service in front of him. His dark eyes wondered instead to the forest that surrounded the field, his gaze focusing on nothing in particular.

Suddenly, Sasuke snapped his head to his left, staring at a tree at the edge of the training grounds where he had first been proclaimed a part of a team. Ignoring the strange—and even hateful—stares from those around him, Sasuke darted to his goal furiously and forced his mind _not _to think of what an idiot he was currently being. He was at Naruto's damn _funeral_. It was _impossible._

Sasuke paused next to the tree where he had glimpsed the briefest hint of movement and scanned the area desperately with eyes peeled wide open, black designs swirling menacingly within his red irises. Kakashi was beside him before he even decided what he was looking for.

"Something wrong?" demanded Kakashi. The lilt that had always been present in his voice ever since he had become a teacher to a trio of messed-up twelve-year-olds was missing.

"I thought I saw . . ." Sasuke looked around intently, searching for something unseen. "Something."

Kakashi raised a hand to the band of metal across his brow and gazed around with both eyes exposed for once.

"It was nothing," announced Sasuke sullenly before Kakashi could finish his scanning.

Kakashi only hummed thoughtfully and cast a glance back to the crowd gathered to remember one of their own.

"His name is on the memorial now," Kakashi noted. "He said he wanted to be listed with Konoha's greatest heroes."

"I remember," Sasuke said, being very, very sure that nothing in his voice implied that he did anything more than recall facts that had taken place years ago.

"I suppose he finally accomplished his dream."

"That idiot," snapped Sasuke. "He never even made it above _genin_. He couldn't have made Hokage, even if he tried his hardest."

"That's not it," the silver-headed man replied calmly. "The reason he wanted to be Hokage in the first place was so that everyone would have to acknowledge him."

Sasuke fell silent and glanced over the crowd of people gathered underneath the sun on the grassy field, all acknowledging that the boy who had died had also lived for his village, his people. Sasuke slipped his hands quietly into his pockets. His right hand found the cool metal plate in his pocket, and his fingers traced over the symbol in the center. He hadn't given up Naruto's _hitai-ate_ since it had been pressed into his chest insistently a week ago.

The symbol he kept hidden in his pocket had once stood for everything he thought he had forsaken. Now, it was the only thing that tied him to what had been his home. He still didn't understand. What drove other people to sacrifice so much? He thought he had known once, back when he still cared enough to want another person to live, even if it meant his life. But now the only one who could give him his answer was gone, with only the words of a ghost to reflect on.

_ "You'll understand when it's your turn to protect something."_

**o0O0o**

From a favored place on the side of a mountain, a boy gazed silently at the funeral. He was too far away to see their faces now, but he had almost gotten caught behind that tree and he couldn't afford that yet. A small amphibian sat on a rock next to the boy's feet.

"You sure about this, kid?" demanded the brightly colored toad. "It won't be easy to explain."

Far from being shocked at the talking animal, the bright-eyed boy simply kept his eyes on the village that stretched out before him.

"I'm sure," he stated firmly. "I have to."

The toad gazed at his new pupil with narrow eyes, studying the boy who stood rigidly against the wind, his back straight and his stance firm. The toad didn't remark how much the boy looked like his predecessors at that moment. There would be time enough for that once he was stronger.

"We have to go before they know—"

"Yeah," the young man interrupted. "I know."

"All right." The toad nodded once, taking the boy's determination in stride. It was his best feature, after all. "I'll see you on the mountain."

So saying, the toad suddenly disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving the boy alone. Bare-faced and looking only his scant sixteen years, the boy squinted his eyes and imagined he could still see the people even from his great distance. He slowly turned his head to survey the entire village and its people then closed his eyes to burn them into his memory. It was for them that he was doing this. He felt a sharp tug on the center of his body, and the boy disappeared in a puff of smoke that quickly disappeared into the breeze.

* * *

A/N: My ambition is going to be the death of me. I started in on the Naruto fanfiction community with _Doomed to Repeat_, but unfortunately my brain betrayed me, and it has been left perpetually unfinished. It doesn't help that I didn't have it well-planned out before I even started. So now I have an entirely new story with a goal of updating once a month with around 10K words per chapter (yeah, ambitious). But I also have a beta reader in Rawrmander, so we'll hope that can keep me accountable.

I'm trying to keep this story as grounded in reality as I can—given that the reality is a world entirely compromised of ninja, power-hungry-world-dominating bad guys, and eyes that are such unusual colors that they would probably be declared a disease if someone here saw them. That said, this story takes a different path from Kishimoto's beginning at chapter 394 ("The Victory of Sasuke"), directly after the battle between Sasuke and Itachi. However, information straight through the most current manga chapters has been taken into account, so there will be spoilers throughout (including but not limited to: Madara's master plan, the Uchiha massacre, and Naruto's lineage). Divergence and reasoning behind it will be explained at a later date (as well as the "Pein killed Naruto" part), but until then, I force you to read to find out. Ha, devious me.

Sincerely,

Fia

Phrases you should probably know:

_Banshou Tenin_ – All Creation Attraction; God Realm Pein's special ability where he draws objects in towards himself.

_Bubun Baika no Jutsu_ – Partial Multi-Sized Technique; an Akimichi specialty in which one portion of the body grows in size, usually the arm and hand so as to deliver more powerful blows.

_Chidori_ – Thousand Birds; a current of lightning that encases the user's hand and is able to cut through pretty near anything.

_Kage Bunshin_ – Shadow Clone (although if you don't know this one, I am disappointed in the Naruto fans).

_ofudo_ –seal, in colloquial terms.

_Raikiri_ – Lightning Blade; basically the same idea as _Chidori_. It's listed as an S-ranked jutsu in the Naruto databook, whereas _Chidori_ is an A-rank.

_Shinra Tensei_ – Divine Judgment; another of God Realm Pein's abilities, this time pushing objects away from himself.


	2. In Which It Rains

Chapter 1: In Which It Rains

_It is commonly said that there are only two plots: a person leaves home and a stranger comes to town._

~James Hall

**o0O0o**

The girl cupped her hands together and watched the rain make ripples in the water that gathered in her palms.

"Rain, rain, go away," she sang lightly. "Come again another day."

"Hey, Mei-chan!"

She let the water slip through her fingers and turned toward the call. A boy only two years older than her was running towards her in the rain. His dark hair was plastered to his head, and he didn't even bother trying to shield his face from the rain. He smiled as he came up to stand in front of her.

"_Sensei_ just got back," he announced.

The girl broke into a smile.

"He's home?" she confirmed and got a vigorous nod for her answer. "What about Mako-kun?"

"He's already there," replied the boy. "C'mon. He was wondering where you went."

The boy grabbed her hand and tugged her across the wide, barren steppe back towards the east.

"I just wanted to watch the rain, Kaito-kun," she explained.

"Watch it later," he commanded. "It's always raining."

She just smiled at him as they ran across the hard, compressed ground. As they approached the edge of the steppe, the soft lights of the village below them lit up the gray atmosphere. It always rained in this country. But in a place like this, where the lights were always waiting, it didn't seem so gloomy.

**o0O0o**

"I'm sorry. I'm afraid I can't help you."

Nara Shikamaru frowned at his contact. Shimada Jun was tall, but not overly so, and looked perfectly confident behind his plain wooden desk. The office was suitable for a paper-pusher or a very new diplomat but seemed too simple for the leader of a country, even one as small as Ame no Kuni. He had one aide standing in his office with him; a dark woman dressed in a plain black outfit, a _yukata _over a fishnet shirt that covered her from neck to elbows and black pants. She actually looked nothing like a kunoichi if not for the alertness in her eyes. The man remained calm with a small smile plastered onto his long face as he faced his four visitors.

"He's not under my jurisdiction," Shimada explained, "so I can't say for sure where he is even now."

"We understand," replied Shikamaru, not entirely sure if his companions actually _did _understand.

His teammates for this mission barely reacted to the news delivered by Shimada. Three young men and a woman that looked absurdly out of place with her unusually colored hair among her dark-headed comrades all remained still. Finally, the lightest of the men spoke.

"You wouldn't tell us even if you knew, wouldja?" sneered Kiba, almost accusingly. His lips peeled back to show pronounced canines that connected him more with Akumaru than his current companions. Kiba had been testy ever since he had been forced to leave his preferred partner out in the rain once the Konoha-nin had been admitted into the building.

Sakura nudged him less-than-discreetly with one bony elbow. Their host seemed to ignore the lack of decorum as his smile grew to a cross between secretive and simply amused.

"Can't say that I would," responded Shimada. "He's helped us too much."

He stood from his desk and wandered over to the large window overlooking his city, drenched in rain.

"Ame no Kuni has always been too small to defend itself against the power of the Elemental Countries." His eyes were dazed as he tracked the rain instead of the city itself. "We've always been caught in between the countries during war. Raiden-sama somehow kept both Iwa and Suna from invading during the civil war two years ago. He kept this country from tearing itself apart."

"And then he put you in power," stated the tallest of Shimada's guests.

With dark eyes, dark hair, and a black uniform broken only by the green vest over it, he was easily the darkest of all the shinobi in the office. He was also the one with the hottest glare; Sakura was too polite for it, Kiba was too hot-headed, and Shikamaru was far too calm. But this final guest pinned the leader of Ame no Kuni with eyes that were so cold they burned, like dry ice against the skin. Shikamaru rubbed the pad of his thumb against his fingers. Unlike his late _sensei_, Shikamaru only smoked when the situation was serious enough to warrant it, and Uchiha Sasuke was turning a troublesome situation into a cigarette-warranting one. Shimada simply turned a shit-faced grin onto his accuser.

"He would say I was just the right man for the job," Shimada retorted. His grin quickly dimmed in view of the explanation. "But, you're right. I would never betray him."

Shimada finally turned from the window, his gaze widening to take in all four of his guests, and smiled again.

"Besides, do you really think I have any power over a god?"

Sasuke showed no change in emotion, but then again it probably would have been more dangerous for Shimada if he had. Shikamaru removed his hands from his pockets and straightened from the slouch that had made him seem apathetic to the entire conversation taking place around him.

"Well, thanks for your help, Shimada-san," Shikamaru stated formally, inclining his head only enough to be polite without going through the danger of taking his eyes off a potential enemy.

Shimada smiled back in a manner that suggested he was completely aware of what these shinobi thought of him and how little he was being thanked for.

"Anytime," he answered smoothly. "Have a safe trip back to Konoha."

Kiba huffed as he turned his back on the office and led the way out, apparently eager to be rid of such a confining structure as a building. Sakura followed him quickly, and Shikamaru trailed behind with a lackadaisical stride. Even with his back turned, Shikamaru could feel Sasuke keeping his eyes on the calm leader before finally turning to follow his compatriots out the door and down the stairs that would lead them to the ground floor four stories down.

"Do you really think he was telling the truth?" Kiba asked bluntly as they descended the stairs.

"If Shimoda Jun does know where Raiden is," replied Sakura, "there's no reason he would tell a group of shinobi he doesn't trust."

"Maybe." Shikamaru finally dug a cigarette out of his pack and lifted it to his mouth, pausing a moment to light the tip. "He also might not know where he is, just for security's sake."

The final member of the team growled so low in his throat that the sound was almost nonexistent.

"We should have come as mercenaries, not shinobi," Sasuke grumbled with the air of someone on the verge of saying "I told you so," but far too proud for the actual words.

"We don't know that he'd listen to a group of mercenaries, either." Sakura rolled her eyes gently, if such an action were possible.

"He'd listen."

The soft voice that had interrupted their conversation was definitely female and definitely new. All four shinobi turned on the stairs to face the woman behind them. She looked ageless with her skin pale and flawless, a direct contrast to her dark hair that bore a white flower, too perfect to be real, just above her temple. Shikamaru recognized her as the aide that had been in Shimada's office.

"Can we help you?" asked Shikamaru as he blew out a stream of smoke towards the ceiling.

Instead of responding, the woman turned her unusually light eyes down to her hands then held out her right hand. A pure white, paper crane poised on her open palm and fluttered gently through the space between her and the foreign shinobi team. Hesitantly, Shikamaru raised his hand and let the paper bird land in his grasp. With the cigarette firmly pressed between his lips, he unfolded the paper to see a single name.

"He's been there for the past year," the Ame woman explained stoically. "His contact is the grocer."

Frowning, Shikamaru lifted his eyes to her.

"Why are you telling us?" he demanded around his fag.

"He deserves the opportunity to refuse you himself." Her eyes were still calm yet alert, showing no signs if she wished they would succeed or fail. "Not that he will. He could never refuse Konoha anything."

With that final odd declaration, she turned around and started back up the stairs, dismissing the four shinobi with the simple gesture of showing her back. Kiba leaned over and peered at the creased paper over the other guy's shoulder.

"So, what does it say?"

Shikamaru lifted one hand and sucked at the lit cigarette in his mouth. When the end glowed with the heat of the coals, he withdrew it and held the tip to the edge of the paper in his hand. The paper slowly smoldered and curled in on itself with edges of orange flame.

"We're going to Hafuko," he announced and dropped the ashes to the floor.

**o0O0o**

It was raining again. Then again, it was usually raining in Ame no Kuni. The mountains to the south prevented all moisture from Tsuchi no Kuni from reaching the deserts of Kaze no Kuni. The small, proud country of Ame no Kuni was well named; there were only a handful of days throughout the year when there wasn't some kind of precipitation, ranging from all-out storms to a dense fog that covered the mountains. Due to all the rain, the growing season was short and less than productive. Most of Ame's food was imported from Tsuchi no Kuni or, more commonly, Hi no Kuni. In return, Ame exported almost as much raw ore and metal tools as Tetsu no Kuni itself. However, this situation made anything other than the basics much more expensive in Ame compared to other countries. Ishikawa Michi only felt the swift stab of guilt over the prices he charged when one of the more unfortunate residents of Hafuko came into his store and left again after purchasing only what they could afford, usually a locally grown bag of rice or a bottle of miso. Even then, the guilt was so prevalent those times only because Michi remembered what it was like to go hungry.

During the civil war that had threatened to tear Ame no Kuni apart after the death of its strongest leader, the faction that bore the marks of missing nin proudly across their hitai-ate had known exactly how to cripple their own country. By cutting off the roads that led to Fire Country, the rebellious shinobi had effectively started to starve their enemies into submission. Michi had been very active in the campaign to regain the roads; his wife and two sons had been back in Hafuko at the time, living off the little rice that survived the rains and whatever rodents dared to venture out on dry days. By the time the roads had been regained, Michi's wife and youngest son had died of malnutrition. He had quit the war effort and traveled back to Hafuko, to his only remaining son, Ito, who was now mopping the mud off the floor of the small grocery. There was no dust in Ame no Kuni; everything turned to mud instead.

The small bell on the wooden door, a courtesy of the carpenter in town, announced a new presence in the store. Michi studied the garb of the newcomers, which was strange enough to cause some raised eyebrows but little else. The two young men wore plain black clothes, but it was their raincoats—heavy, tan, and hooded—that looked out of place. Few in Hafuko could afford such thick coats; even if they did, most were too inundated to the rain to care what they wore for such a light drizzle. One of the hooded men stopped straight in front of Ito's mop, demanding immediate attention.

"Hey, kid." He sounded amused from his tone. "Who's in charge here?"

"How can I help you gentlemen?" Michi interjected before Ito could react.

One of the men lifted a hand to shove back his hood. He was a dark-haired man, younger than Michi had thought, and definitely foreign. His hair was tied up into a short tail at the top of his head. His companion, a grinning man about the same age, left Ito to his mopping and approached the counter with his friend.

"We need some extra muscle for a job," announced the man with the tail.

He sounded professional, which relaxed Michi a bit. Men from the larger cities like Amegakure sometimes came to the outskirts looking for cheap labor. The pay wasn't great, but the extra income was always welcome.

"Well, my son is a good worker." He waved over the fifteen-year-old who wasn't returning to his chores anyway. "I'm sure he could help you out."

Michi had caught the boy looking at a recent brochure for tourist attractions in Amegakure. He was old enough to leave home, and a few weeks working in the city might do him good. The capitol city was still in the process of luring more income into the country, possibly from outsiders, but the lack of sunlight didn't make for an enticing travel destination.

"Not exactly the kind of muscle we're looking for, O-jiji." The second man leaned over the counter with his hood still shadowing his face. His grin highlighted the deep marks that started beneath his eyes and tapered to points just above the corners of his mouth. "We were thinking of someone a bit more serious."

Michi's brows slowly knitted themselves together, and he found himself backpedaling abruptly.

"Serious?" he repeated as he studied the men in front of his counter.

Their raincoats hid most of their bodies, which annoyed Michi. He had no way of reading their body language or studying their muscles to see if he could determine how strong they were. He briefly wondered if that had been an intentional deception on their part then moved on to their eyes. The grinning one was predominantly curious, while his friend was studying Michi with almost the same intensity Michi was sure could be found in his own eyes. These men, whatever they were, knew what they were looking for.

"You get a lot of rain here," the smiling man noted suddenly.

The change in subject was both abrupt and loaded. Michi doubted that the two men were really that curious about the weather. Besides, the way the marked man was leaning with his elbows on Michi's counter seemed far too intense than required for a conversation about rain.

"It's Ame no Kuni," answered Michi hesitantly. "It's always raining."

"You get much thunder?"

Michi swallowed back the lump in his throat quickly. If the tone of the man's voice wasn't enough to give him away, the sudden intensity in the other man's eyes would have done it. However strong these two were, they wanted someone much stronger. Maybe even a god.

"You want to talk to Masao-san," Michi murmured through clenched teeth. "He'll be at the smoke shop for his regular _shōgi_ game tomorrow morning. You can meet who you're looking for then."

The man leaned back from his intense perusal, his smiling dimming to something a little less feral.

"Thanks, old man." He waved one hand as he trudged out of the store. His companion followed on his heels. "Appreciate it."

The bell chimed softly behind them over the sound of the steady rain outside. Despite the curtain of water that clouded the streets, Michi kept his eyes on the two tan raincoats until they passed his range of vision through the wide windows of the market.

"_Otou-san_," Ito began in a low, nervous voice, "shouldn't we tell Genkei-san?"

"No," Michi answered immediately. His mind had already supplied a reason for the unexpected visit; the only ones who came looking for Raiden were those who shared his profession.

"If they're really shinobi, he'll know they were here already," Michi finished abruptly and turned from his son, striding out from behind the counter to his son's discarded mop.

"But they're from Konohagakure." Ito followed his father. "He never talks about—"

"Then he has good reason," interrupted the grocer. He pressed the mop back into the boy's hands. "Leave it alone, Ito."

"_Hai_, _Otou-san_." Ito ducked his head and shrugged the mop back into the bucket of sudsy water.

Michi laid one hand on his son's shoulder and turned away. While he knew that the man in question didn't care for people prying into things that he wasn't ready to tell, he was more concerned that the two shinobi had left behind a method of listening in on his conversation with his son. Michi was even tempted to follow Ito's advice and inform Genkei-san of the visitors to Hafuko. But he was paranoid enough to fear that he would be followed or captured on the way. Michi had seen enough of war. Genkei had long said that his troubles were his own and shouldn't involve any other people, not even those who would give anything to help him. This was the way he wanted it, so Michi would respect his wishes.

**o0O0o**

Jounin of Konoha Inuzuka Kiba did not like his mission. Oh, he realized there was a good reason he had been selected for this particular mission; his tracking skills were the best in his clan, and that included the ninken that he often helped to train. But, he absolutely _hated _this freakin' country. It rained so much that no scents lingered more than a few hours at a time. Akamaru was constantly wet and in need of a good roll in the grass to get him feeling like himself again, and Kiba was about ready to join his partner in the canine behavior.

Plus, their quarry was a freakin' ghost. If it hadn't been for that weird kunoichi in Amegakure, they wouldn't even have known to come to this town. The grocer wasn't that helpful, either. Kiba would rather start breaking down doors and busting heads, pounding on the grunts until they were forced to talk. Too bad that wasn't Shikamaru's style.

Kiba continued walking through the rain that had been falling all day to the barren mountain face just south of the town. Sparse trees, hardly taller than Kiba himself, dotted the landscape but didn't provide much cover. Kiba could already see the thick tents set up on a plateau while two other figures stood in wait.

"What's your report?" demanded a voice from the gray scenery.

This was the final reason Kiba hated his mission: the Godaime's choice of teammates.

"Hello to you, too, Uchiha," Kiba grumbled under his breath. Beside him, Akamaru growled low and deep in his wide chest.

Sasuke showed no reaction to the distaste radiated toward him. He was famous for that; they said that the best pranksters could appear before him in nothing but the renowned _Oiroke no Jutsu_, and Uchiha Sasuke wouldn't even blink. Then again, Kiba still held the opinion that the reason was not because Sasuke was such a great ninja but because he had instead chosen not to care about anything at all.

"Did you find the grocer?" Sasuke reiterated.

"What?" sneered the Inuzuka. "You can't tell with those eyes of yours?"

"That's enough," snapped a female voice.

Sakura stepped between the two males and glared at Sasuke. Her hood sat on her shoulders, and her hair was plastered to her skull. Sasuke blinked and turned away slowly, deliberately ignoring Sakura's displeasure. Kiba just bared his teeth again.

"We met the grocer," Shikamaru announced, cutting the tension.

The team leader cupped his hands around his mouth and flicked the lighter he always kept in his right vest pocket. The flame flickered in the rain, illuminating the shape of Shikamaru's face briefly before it went out again and left only the faint glow of his cigarette burning.

"He told us to go to a man named Masao tomorrow," continued the genius. "At a _shōgi _game."

"Right up your alley, genius," Kiba scoffed, his attention back on the mission and off his less-than-desirable teammate.

"As long as he's not expected to lose," retorted Sakura.

"Kiba and I will go to the _shōgi _game tomorrow." Shikamaru removed the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled, keeping his fingers curled around the lit end to protect it from the rain. "Sakura, you and Sasuke will keep an eye on who's there."

"Right," Sakura acknowledged.

Without a word, Sasuke turned and trudged off into the gray dusk.

"_Oi_, go right ahead, Uchiha," Kiba called after him. "Not like we needed you on this mission, anyway!"

"Kiba!" Sakura bit out a sharp reprimand.

Despite himself, Kiba flinched. He almost wished Sakura had punched him instead—_almost_. He could handle a bruise on his face or a lump on his skull that the iryou-nin would heal anyway. Instead, her muttered hiss of his name reminded him of Hinata and made his gut twist guiltily.

"Tch, _mendōkusei_," muttered Shikamaru. He raised his cigarette again and spoke around it. "You two go to sleep. Sasuke and I will split the first watch."

Orders issued, Nara ducked his head against the rain and turned to follow Sasuke into the haze around them. Kiba dared to wonder what the genius thought he would accomplish. Sasuke rarely acknowledged any of his peers and hardly even listened to his superiors, with the possible exception of Kakashi. Other than that, the only one who really got the Uchiha to say _anything _was Sakura, who was currently staring into the rain after her one-time-traitor-turned-genius-aren't-we-all-happy-he's-back teammate.

"I don't like that guy," Kiba huffed unnecessarily.

Akamaru let out a growl of agreement and shook the excess water out of his fur. Sakura shot them both a disapproving glare that Kiba matched right back.

"He hasn't done anything to help on this mission, Sakura." Kiba raised one hand as if to shoo Uchiha Sasuke directly from the country. "Why'd he come along in the first place?"

"He wanted to," answered the young woman in a subdued tone that usually appeared whenever Sasuke came up in casual conversation. "He . . . he feels strongly about Raiden."

"Yeah, I got that." Kiba rolled his eyes, still remembering the cold, almost-hateful protests that Sasuke had made in front of Tsunade-sama. "Why?"

Sakura turned green eyes, dimmed to a shade of jade in the dusky rain, to Kiba, and he could see the plea for understanding in them. He turned away so he wouldn't have to look anymore. He didn't want to understand Uchiha. It was easier—and far more satisfying—to hate the guy.

"Sasuke only knows vengeance," Sakura whispered. "When Raiden killed Pein, he took away Sasuke's vengeance because—"

"Because Pein killed Naruto," Kiba finished when Sakura's voice broke into uncertainty.

Sakura nodded and said no more. Not that she needed to. Kiba still didn't like it; what right did Sasuke have to want vengeance when he wasn't the only one affected by the death? But, another part of Kiba was well-satisfied with the results of all the effort that Naruto had put into getting the bastard back to Konoha. That had been the one goal Naruto had been determined to reach. Kiba almost thought it had been more important to his friend than becoming Hokage, but he never bothered to contemplate that for long. The leader of Akatsuki had made it moot point.

The story of Pein's attack on Konoha had almost completely replaced the legend of the attack of the Kyuubi no Kitsune as Konoha's favorite bedtime story about what heroes were like. Pein was the new all-out, scary-as-hell bad guy, and the fact that Konoha had risen from his ashes just made the story that much better. Strangely enough, both stories ended with a single hero. Naruto was as famous as Yondaime Hokage now. Kiba thought that better count for something for Naruto. He deserved that much.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru hunched his shoulders against the chill that was constantly present with the rain and studied the _shōgi _board in front of him. The man across from him, an older gentleman with salt-and-pepper hair cropped short, had introduced himself as Masao and invited him to play a game since his usual opponent was late.

Michi the grocer sat in a ragged folding chair and watched the game like a referee would study a sport to make sure no one cheated. He had been sitting in that same chair when Shikamaru, Kiba, and Akamaru had first arrived at the small hardware store that sold mostly batteries, fixings for pipes and wires, and carpentry tools. Shikamaru guessed that Michi had already informed his fellow townsmen what was going on. The only other resident of Hafuko that seemed to be paying any attention to the game was the owner of the small shop, a man named Yu who explained his name by saying that his parents had had a strange sense of humor.

Shikamaru plunked his pawn forward and waited. Masao was a pretty good player. Better than Asuma-sensei had been, but still not up to Shikamaru's father's level. Shikamaru already had three different strategies planned out based on which move Masao would make next. From the way Kiba's hand kept wandering to Akamaru's head, Shikamaru guessed they were both getting anxious for something to happen.

"You're pretty good for a kid," Masao noted as his knight jumped a pawn and took position on the frontline.

"Hm." Shikamaru didn't bother commenting; he could almost feel Kiba roll his eyes at the praise but kept his eyes on the game. Honestly, he had heard too many similar comments in his life to be bothered much.

"Ah, Genkei-san," Yu suddenly cried. "You're late."

"Sorry, sorry," came a new voice, slightly rough with a lazy drawl that reminded Shikamaru of Hatake Kakashi. "There was this little old lady—"

The newcomer cut off suddenly, and Shikamaru lifted his eyes to the front of the store. The man that had entered was younger than Masao, but certainly older than Shikamaru and Kiba, as evidenced by the streaks of gray running through his black hair at the temples. His only protection against the rain was a long, black coat with the collar turned up. His face was clean-shaven and almost young-looking if not for the faint lines around the corners of his mouth and eyes that suggested he was a man who laughed long and often. His eyes, however, were fixed firmly on Shikamaru. As the ninja met the newcomer's gaze, the older man quickly flicked his eyes across the _shōgi _board, pausing briefly on Kiba and the large dog in the hardware shop before he finally chose Masao as the target of his gaze.

"You started without me?" He sounded both surprised and petulant.

"Hey, I had to have _some_ opponent with you gone, Genkei-san," answered Masao calmly. "And this kid is much better than you."

"Maa, that's mean, Masao-san." Definitely petulant.

Shikamaru's eyes remained on the game as the newly-arrived Genkei made his way further into the store. The man favored his right leg while his left pulled itself along, refusing to bend at the knee properly. Yu pulled up another metal chair for the man and Genkei sank into it with a sigh.

"Did you have a good vacation, Genkei-san?" Yu inquired politely.

Shikamaru flipped his castle to a new position and kept an ear on the ensuing conversation. Genkei was obviously well-respected in the community. Even Masao's teasing had been good-natured and friendly.

"Good enough," Genkei replied. His left leg stretched out at a strange angle from his body, unbending. "That old toad still hits harder than a—"

"You shouldn't say that about your _Oji-san_," Masao chuckled and made his move on the board.

"Ah, he was old when I first knew him." Genkei shrugged with his eyes on the game. "It's too late to start complaining now. So, who's winning?"

"Masao-san, of course," Yu laughed. "No one can beat our _shōgi _genius."

Kiba let out a strangled sound and covered his mouth suddenly against the obvious amusement that particular comment generated. Shikamaru ignored it.

"_Oi_, I've got a pot going on Masao-san," Michi commented abruptly. "You want in, Genkei?"

Genkei considered the question with his head cocked, more like a kid than a betting man. His eyes, the same color as his hair, fell on Shikamaru and stayed there.

"Sure," he finally answered. "Six hundred ryō on the kid."

Kiba's eyes snapped over to the older man at the strange declaration. Shikamaru briefly wondered if Sakura had been right and he was actually expected to lose.

"Now, _that's _mean, Genkei-san," complained Masao in an indulgent tone. "Why are you betting against me?"

"'Cuz no one beats Konoha's genius."

Genkei was still staring at him when Shikamaru glanced up. He supposed that it wouldn't be unheard of for someone outside of Konoha to know him by reputation, but still—

"I didn't think we were introduced," noted said genius.

Genkei tilted his head to the side and stared at the wall of the smoke shop.

"Huh," he breathed out softly. "You know, I don't think we ever actually were."

He sounded pensive, as if he were actually trying to recall a specific event. But, as good as Shikamaru's memory was, he couldn't think of a time when he had met Genkei or anyone resembling the man. Suddenly, Genkei broke into a wide grin and folded his arms over his chest.

"Anyway, don't let me down, genius," he ordered playfully. "I don't wanna give this old bastard six hundred ryō."

Shikamaru's eyes flickered from the board to the smile that crinkled the lines at the corners of the man's mouth and eyes. Michi had said that he and Kiba would meet the one they were looking for at the _shōgi _game. Thus far, no one man had jumped out as a potential S-class shinobi, although Genkei could have qualified as the most interesting. Shikamaru took in the board before him and reviewed all his strategies, one of which had been rendered obsolete by Masao's play. He looked back at Genkei and formulated a new strategy, one with a bit more risk involved. Shikamaru took his fingers from the board and leaned back in his chair.

"I forfeit," he announced briskly.

He felt the tension within the small shop spike immediately. Kiba and Akamaru both started to their feet in anticipation, maybe not the best move considering the fact that they were outnumbered. Only Genkei remained unchanged, staring at the board with puzzlement all over his face.

"Well, that was disappointing," commented the older man finally. He looked up at Shikamaru without malice. "Are you so eager to find your target you won't let me even win a bet?"

Yu suddenly planted himself between Genkei's seat and the standing Inuzuka. Poised between the young man's fingers were three senbon, a favorite weapon of Ame nin from what Shikamaru had studied.

"We won't let you—"

"Yu, stop it," Genkei's order cut off the young man's threat effectively.

Shikamaru watched carefully as Yu turned his eyes onto Genkei but didn't lower his weapons.

"Raiden-sama," he protested.

"Hey." Genkei frowned up at Yu and pushed himself to his feet. He leaned heavily on his right leg for a moment then straightened and laid one hand on Yu's shoulder. "If Konoha had a reason to kill me, they would've done it when they first heard of Raiden. I've been here for years, and they haven't, okay?"

Yu looked as if he doubted the man's reasoning, but he lowered his arm as his hand disappeared into his sleeve briefly. When it reemerged, the senbon were gone, tucked away until needed again. Genkei nodded once, satisfied with Yu's obedience, then looked back at Shikamaru, who remained in his chair.

"Come on, genius," Raiden commanded. "Your friend can stay."

Kiba nearly growled at the obvious dismissal. Shikamaru stood up quickly. He hated playing the diplomat, but he was forced into the position more often than he liked.

"You already know we're not assassins," declared Nara. They'd have made pretty poor ones, anyway.

The man who was named for the god of thunder stared at Shikamaru. His eyes were black, but far more expressive than any other dark-colored eyes Shikamaru had seen. Granted, the two examples most prominent in his mind were Sasuke and Sai—neither of whom could be called an exemplary emotive. Then, Genkei raised one hand and jerked his thumb at Kiba.

"He stays," Genkei repeated. "_With _his giant dog. He'll scare the kids otherwise."

Shikamaru wasn't sure which was stranger: the excuse itself or the fact that Raiden delivered it with a straight face. But he complied, motioning Kiba to stay in the store. Genkei turned up the collar of his long jacket and trudged out into the rain, followed by Shikamaru.

Despite leaving his partner back, Shikamaru wasn't that worried. No one in Hafuko had seen anyone but himself and Kiba. Hopefully no one would think to consider that they could have other teammates along. Shikamaru resisted the urge to look up to see if he could find the most antisocial of their group. He would do nothing to alert Raiden of anything amiss.

"What's your history with Konoha?" asked Shikamaru, partly to keep the man's attention and partly because he was still curious how he had been recognized.

"You don't get to ask that yet, Nara." He turned down a street perpendicular to their current route.

They hadn't gone five meters when Genkei stopped and stood stock still in the rain. Shikamaru halted to avoid running into the man and ran through a list of plausible reasons a strong missing nin would be unmoving down to his fingertips. Before he had completely eliminated paranoia or the dog rummaging through the trash at the side of the road as a reason for the sudden halt, Genkei tilted his head sideways and glanced over his shoulder.

"Huh," he breathed out, soft enough that Shikamaru suspected the man wasn't really addressing him. "You guys went all out."

Shikamaru wondered if this was serious enough to warrant a cigarette. The possibility that Genkei knew they were being followed hadn't been discarded yet. Genkei kept walking, then, and Shikamaru followed silently. Halfway down the street, Genkei stopped at a shop with a large awning above its front, a brief respite from the rain.

"Here we are," the man announced simply as he reached for the door. "Tell that guy on the roof to come in, too."

When Shikamaru made no move to do so, Genkei looked back over his shoulder and grinned.

"Hard to hide in a country where the rain outlines everything," he explained amicably.

Shikamaru sighed and waved one hand over his head, commanding Sasuke to quit playing ANBU and join him.

**o0O0o**

Uchiha Sasuke glowered at being found out so easily. He had gained a new appreciation for the fact that the shinobi in Amegakure rarely used their rooftops as highways. For one thing, their architecture was so bizarrely different from Konoha's that smooth pathways above the buildings were nonexistent; for another, the constant rain made the metal buildings slick, forcing the use of extra chakra for traction. Still, Sasuke was concentrated too much on his task to pay his surroundings much attention. He had cast a subtle genjutsu over his target as soon as the man had existed the store with Shikamaru, disguising his presence, and proceeded to follow the pair down the streets. The man Shikamaru was following had stopped only once on the streets, but there was no _sakki_ from him, no sense of danger.

And still, Sasuke had been found. He released the hold his feet had on the side of the building across the street from the one Raiden had just entered and fell to his feet gracefully. The building was definitely a store, with its large glass window beside the door featuring a tall dining set in the modern style with tall chairs to match it. Sasuke said nothing as he followed Shikamaru, following Raiden, into the store.

A furniture store, peppered with all-wooden features, met him. The entryway had been extended into an open showroom. There was even a pair of ebony rocking chairs in the center of the store. At the back of the shop was a plain counter with an old cash register on it. A door behind the counter was open, revealing a darkened room Sasuke assumed was the rest of the building. The man the villagers called Genkei was shaking out his sopping hair near the door when Sasuke saw a boy bounce his way out of the back of the building and circle the counter. He was dressed simply in a pair of plain pants and a brown yutaka over a fishnet shirt.

"Hey, _Sensei_," the boy called. "I thought you had stuff to—"

The boy cut himself off abruptly and stared at Shikamaru and Sasuke with wide gray eyes. He couldn't be older than thirteen, if he was even that—Sasuke thought on second glance he looked younger.

"The _shōgi _game didn't take as long as I thought," Raiden responded as if the boy had actually finished his question.

"Who're you?" The teenager jerked a finger at the pair of shinobi rudely.

His hair was a pale blond, almost white, but Sasuke couldn't help the flash that suddenly overlaid a more sunlit head of hair and much bluer eyes on top of the boy's indignant glare, demanding to know what the hell was so special about the last Uchiha.

"Mako," Raiden called warningly.

"You're ninja." Mako was obviously disregarding his sensei's instruction. "What d'ya want?"

"Mako!" snapped the gray-haired man.

Obediently, Mako shifted his attention from Sasuke to Raiden. Sasuke followed the boy's gaze in time to Raiden suddenly shift from commanding to teasing.

"You really think I can't take 'em?" Raiden affected a cocky smile.

Sasuke almost frowned. He usually made it a point to be unaffected by blowhards or those who thought themselves better than him. He knew what the people of Konoha thought of him and didn't care. So, why was he so bothered by this one man's obvious confidence?

"We still got that _sake_?"

Raiden trudged his way into the store, trailing water behind him. Mako's light eyes followed the man until he reached the counter. The man leaned against the wooden platform as if to rest his leg. Mako merely scoffed.

"'Course," he answered shortly. "You never drink it."

"Well, I'm not letting _you _at it," countered Raiden. "The last time you thought that stuff was water, you made a fool of yourself in front of Aiko-chan."

Sasuke took in Mako's fierce blush, but he still found the entire conversation disquieting. Raiden showed no signs of apprehension or anxiety; he really did think that he could take both Sasuke and Shikamaru if necessary. With his reputation, Sasuke wondered what a fight with the god of thunder would really be like.

"Watch the shop for me, Mako," Raiden commanded as he ducked behind the counter. "I gotta serve my guests."

The man turned back and waved the two Konoha-nin to him. Sasuke's eyes hardened, and he wished he could discreetly pin the man with his Sharingan. But the boy's hard, suspicious gaze on him as he passed through the open floor to the back of the store stopped Sasuke from revealing too much. Following Shikamaru, Sasuke turned away from the store just so he wouldn't have to see his dead friend in a living boy.

**o0O0o**

Sakura circled the block and peered into the dimly-lit hardware store for a glimpse of Kiba and Akamaru. The buildings of Ame no Kuni didn't usually have very large windows, but Sakura supposed the sun didn't come out enough to justify them. Sakura was getting tired of the rain. Fortunately, she didn't have it nearly as bad as Kiba, who had been complaining for days that the rain was messing with his nose. It was probably a good thing the Inuzuka had been regulated to staying inside the shop while she and Sasuke remained outside.

Sakura had been walking around the same block for five consecutive rounds. Sasuke had been in hiding, trying to follow the conversation within with his Sharingan through the small windows. He had only revealed himself briefly to let Sakura know that he was following Shikamaru and the dark, middle-aged man that had exited the store with him. Sakura stayed as Kiba's partner, although she was providing little support standing in the rain like this. Pressing her lips together in the dampness of mid-morning, Sakura made a decision and entered the store.

The air inside the store was chilled, and Sakura felt her skin shudder once the rain stopped pelting her and she realized how damp she was. The adults were all gathered at the back of the store, Kiba sitting across from an older gentleman while the one he had described as Michi leaned over the both of them. A third man stood in one of the aisles, replacing small cans of paint on the shelves. He looked up at the sound of the door closing behind Sakura and caught her eye. Sakura quickly turned her eyes studiously onto the shelf in front of her. Nuts, bolts, and screws. Great, what was she supposed to be doing: building a doghouse?

"You're not as good at _shōgi _as your partner, are you?" the oldest man of the group chuckled softly.

"Shut up," growled Kiba right back.

Sakura buried a smile under her hand and stepped quietly closer to the back of the store. The young stocker of shelves circled the end of the aisle and frowned at the young woman examining the washers with completely faked fascination.

"Michi-san, you said that Konoha usually sends out its shinobi in groups," the young man postulated over his shoulder.

"In three-man teams or more," answered the grocer. "Like Ame does for the Chuunin Exams."

"I found the third," announced the man as he gazed at Sakura.

Before Sakura could decide if she were in any danger from the men in the shop, she heard the grating voice of the oldest man present.

"Is she any good at _shōgi_?"

Sakura frowned back at the young man, not sure if she should be offended, threatened, or just plain weirded out. Weird was sounding pretty good at the time.

"Bring her over, Yu," commanded Michi.

Sensing no tension from Kiba—at least no more than he usually had when he was faced with a situation that undermined his sense of smell—Sakura followed the man back behind the shelves to the small gathering of men. She almost expected one of them to have a pipe. While Michi followed her movements closely, the man at the _shōgi _board only studied his pieces meticulously. Sakura refused to lower her eyes as she came around to stand beside Akamaru, who sat obediently if not tensely by Kiba's side.

The slamming door from the front of the building made Sakura look up and study the newest additions to the tense party. Three children raced into the store, straight for the _shōgi _game in the back. The oldest of the three could hardly be called a child; he had the lanky look of a teenager whose limbs hadn't quite finished growing. He led the way while the two younger followed behind, a young boy holding an even smaller girl's hand as he dragged her forward.

"Kaito-kun, slow down," the girl called desperately. She looked younger than ten, but only just, and her dark black hair was cropped at her chin, sleeked with rain.

Michi stood and stared at the incoming kids.

"Ito." He frowned at the oldest. "Why aren't you at the store?"

Sakura glanced over the boy, now identified as Michi's son, Ito. Kiba had said something about a boy in the grocery store last night when Sakura had demanded a change of subject after the reminder of Pein and his destruction.

"_Otou-san_, where's—" Ito's eyes suddenly flicked over Kiba, and he cut himself off with a quick swallow. "Where's Genkei-san?"

Michi gave Kiba a long look before he turned his eyes back on his son.

"Raiden-sama already left with the other ninja," he answered coldly.

Sakura hoped the frigid tone of the man was directed more at her and Kiba than at his own son. But Ito seemed unperturbed by the response as he glared back at Michi.

"There are shinobi coming from outside," Ito ground out as if he was reluctant to speak in front of a real live shinobi.

Akamaru seemed to sense the boy's disapproval and growled deep in his broad chest. Ito glared at the dog stubbornly while Michi and Yu both frowned at Kiba and Sakura.

"You brought more shinobi with you?" demanded Michi. "Do you think our village is that much of a threat?"

"The shinobi are from Oto." It was the younger boy, the one the girl had called "Kaito-kun," who blurted out the explanation that made all the men suddenly look at him.

Yu craned his neck to look past the kids out the door, as if he would see Sound ninja breaking into his store at any moment. Even Kiba was gaping at the young Kaito.

"Are you sure, Kaito?" demanded the oldest man in a piercing voice.

The sole girl clutched to Kaito's hand possessively. Kaito nodded to the question as his free hand traveled up and clutched his left shoulder, right at the base of his neck.

"I felt them," announced the boy.

"We saw them, too," piped up the girl. "They're on the north road. We need to find Sensei."

"All right, Mei-chan." Michi stood up and shared a glance with the old man at the _shōgi _board.

Sakura suddenly realized that Hafuko wasn't a backwater village at all. Not if all three of the men in the store were shinobi as she suspected. Her team hadn't caught them unprepared in the least. All three of them were gathered to meet any threat that Kiba and Shikamaru would present, and they knew that there was probably more than just the two of them. Sakura wondered if they had guessed as to Sasuke's presence yet. Then, Michi looked right at her with a frown that was reminiscent of her father when Sakura had been caught stealing cookies before dinner.

"Why is Oto at our gates, Konoha?" he demanded.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke watched the middle-aged man pour the sweet-smelling rice wine into three _choko_, shallow cups meant for drinking _sake_, resting on the tall wooden table. The kitchen was sparse; only the bare essentials and the dining set proved that anyone lived there. Another door led to a bedroom, the only other room in the back of the store. From the brief glance Sasuke had cast while waiting for Raiden's hosting skills, he saw one futon on the floor of the back room while another laid rolled up by the wall. Raiden's student probably lived with the man.

Raiden finished pouring the drinks and slid one of them across the table. Shikamaru pulled out a chair and sat down at the head of the table while Raiden gently pushed a second cup at Sasuke, who remained standing. He glanced down at the offered drink. He didn't like _sake_, had never liked anything that affected the mind. Even Sakura knew not to give him any painkillers unless it was a matter of life and death. Sasuke looked up from the table to see Raiden staring at him. The man immediately bowed his head and rubbed at the back of his neck like some kid caught stealing.

"Sorry," he murmured then raised his eyes up to Sasuke again. "Been a while since I've seen that symbol."

Sasuke's fingers tightened into a fist as he resisted the automatic urge to run his fingers over the metal plate across his forehead. He was well aware that the _hitai-ate_ that declared his allegiance had never been meant for him. The only reason he knew every line, dent, and scuff on the mark of a ninja was because it wasn't originally his. But he couldn't just discard it after it had been pressed into his chest so insistently with those four words:

_"_Now_ it's your turn."_

Raiden braced his hands on the table and started to lower himself into the chair across from Shikamaru and Sasuke. His gimp leg jutted out unnaturally from his body, and Raiden grumbled wordlessly. Suddenly, he reached down and hitched up his left pant leg to reveal a brace around his knee. Sasuke could hear him muttering as he unfastened the brace then threw it in a corner of the room.

"Man, that thing's annoying," Raiden sighed and sat down without further comment. His left knee now bent without trouble as Raiden wrapped his fingers around the _sake _dish.

Sasuke's eyes flickered to the brace that had provided the deception of a debilitated, older man then fixed his stare back on the man at the table. He felt his eyes burn, knew exactly what it meant, but he was slightly distracted by the cloud of chakra surrounding Raiden. It was heaviest over his head and hands, a light blue kind of color that threw Raiden's features into a haze. The chakra that covered the remainder of his body was translucent, proving that Raiden was only disguising his visible skin.

"Drop the Henge," Sasuke commanded.

Raiden's head snapped up to meet Sasuke's slowly twirling Sharingan. Dark eyes widened, but that might have been from the sight of a bloodline that was reputed to have died out. As Raiden's aged mouth slowly widened into a smile, however, Sasuke was again struck by the gut feeling that the man's confidence was not faked.

"No, thanks," Raiden declined. "I like my head where it is. Attached to my shoulders."

Raiden lifted the _sake_ cup to his lips and threw the alcohol down his throat, swallowing with a grimace. For a man who supposedly did not drink his own _sake_, he apparently knew how to.

"You haven't said what Konoha wants with Raiden yet." Raiden set his empty cup down and refilled it without looking at his guests.

"We're at war with Oto." Shikamaru hadn't touched his cup, but that wasn't too unusual in a profession filled with assassins and little-known poisons.

"Yeah, I noticed," the man responded bluntly.

"You have had a reputation as an enemy of Oto for a while," continued Shikamaru.

Raiden had actually had a reputation as an enemy of Oto for more than two years, ever since the rumors that Orochimaru still lived—through the weakness of his apprentice—proved to be true.

"Noticed that, too." Raiden looked up enough to frown at Shikamaru. "Get to the point, Nara."

"Godaime Hokage would like to make an offer for your services."

Raiden's attention shifted quickly from Shikamaru to Sasuke and back again.

"You sure Konoha really wants to rely on me?" he finally inquired, eyebrows knitting together. "Use your own strength. I ain't for sale."

"Not even to fight a snake?" Sasuke goaded.

No one would know that he secretly relished in the glare that Raiden shot his way, pleased that he could upset the man's confidence. Sasuke had been against this mission since Tsunade had announced it. Nuke-nin were usually not good with authority; whatever drove them out of their villages was serious enough that it could not be resolved through normal channels. Sasuke knew this better than most; he knew better than to trust someone who so freely discarded his comrades—his own history not withstanding.

"Hear our offer first." Shikamaru held up one hand. They _were _required to lay the terms on the table in order for the mission to be complete. "Tsuchi no Kuni and Mizu no Kuni both see you as an enemy."

"Unfortunately," muttered Raiden, sounding particularly upset by the fact.

Sasuke wondered if one of the two was his country of origin. No one claimed Raiden, and he wore nothing that placed him specifically in any country. His most recognizable feature, according to sightings, was a white ceramic mask decorated with red lines, similar to those that Konoha's ANBU wore. Kaminari no Kuni listed him as an ally in their bingo book, and he obviously had close ties to Amegakure despite not being a native, according to Shimada.

"If you join us, Konoha will grant you refuge within our village," Shikamaru continued. "We won't deport you to any other country."

The concept was a new one, first suggested by Shikamaru himself and inspired partially by Sasuke's situation. By refusing to turn a nuke-nin in for justice, a village could make him dependent on them as a safe point. The ninja in question may even come to think of his adopted village as more worthy of his loyalty than the ones trying to kill him. Of course, it was a _new _idea and heavily dependent on circumstances. Raiden was the first test subject.

But Raiden seemed shocked by the offer. Whether he understood the implications or was simply surprised by the unorthodox method of payment, he was staring at Shikamaru with dark eyes stretched wide open.

"Refuge?" he repeated hesitantly. "Konoha would let me . . ."

His voice faded into silence as he looked back up at Sasuke. Sasuke still didn't like the man's eyes, and not just because he knew they weren't his real eyes. Raiden's eyes were too expressive for someone who was supposed to be hiding from the world. Raiden suddenly jerked his head to the side and stared at the wall of his small kitchen instead of his guests.

"I can't," he declared. He tilted his head up and knocked back his second cup of _sake_.

"You hate Orochimaru." Sasuke folded his arms over his chest. "You destroyed his stronghold at Asahi."

The episode more than two years ago had been the first that Konoha had heard of Raiden. Shortly after Orochimaru had made a comeback in Ta no Kuni, it was reported that the city of Asahi, just inside the western border of the country, had been obliterated. Sasuke was among those who investigated the report; his knowledge of the area outweighed the concerns about his old loyalties. Asahi had been a simple village when Sasuke had last seen it. In his absence—and Orochimaru's—it had grown to a city that included everything from a rice exchange to a noodle stand that made Sasuke unusually nostalgic.

When he returned with Konoha's symbol on his forehead, everyone was dead. A couple of farmers from the outskirts of Asahi had told about the appearance of a figure that seemed more monster than man. The unknown assailant had spent less than an hour in the city and when he departed the area, he left behind the bodies of two dozen shinobi and all the residents of Asahi.

Raiden glared up at Sasuke, his eyes hot and angry.

"Unless you're really feeling sorry for him, I don't see why you should care, Uchiha," snapped the man. "If I'm supposed to hate him, you really think I need you to fight him? You don't know what the hell you're offering."

"Are you an enemy of Konoha?" inquired Shikamaru.

Raiden turned his glare onto the genius. Sasuke didn't know why he seemed so offended.

"No," the nuke-nin bit out. "I've never been against Konoha."

"Then what would make you say yes?"

Sasuke opened his mouth to declare the mission a failure and demand that Shikamaru agree. They were only required to make the offer to Raiden. If he refused, that was Tsunade's problem for believing that she could entice a missing nin to join Konoha.

Before Sasuke could say anything, a stupendous crash shook the building around them hard enough to knock over the _sake_ bottle on the table. Sasuke's first thought was that the rain had turned to a thunderstorm, but this sounded malevolent, like the earth was splitting itself around them.

"What the—" Raiden jumped to his feet and danced around the table, heading for the door to his furniture shop. He didn't even look at the two ninja at his table.

Shikamaru stood quickly and motioned Sasuke to follow with a quick hand gesture. Sasuke fisted his hand briefly, felt his nails dig into his palms, and followed his commanding officer. As far as he was concerned, Raiden had already refused them and their mission was over. Their task now was to figure out what the hell was going on and whether or not it prevented them from going back to Konoha.

God of thunder be damned.

* * *

A/N: So, now we get to see the beginnings of _plot_. Hopefully, I can keep this schedule of updating at the end of every month (it feels like a long time, but in my defense, my chapter are _long_). My beta, Rawrmander, has been doing an excellent job at keeping me timely.

Explanations forthcoming: Since I am American, most of what I know of Japanese comes from reading manga or fanfiction or from my Japanese-English dictionary. So there will be very little actual Japanese in here, but I am keeping some of the basic terms (_hai_, "yes" and _Otou-san_ for "father") and anything specific to the culture, like _shōgi_. Any Japanese terms that are specific to the Naruto-verse, such as catchphrases or jutsu, will be kept in Japanese ('cuz they sound cooler that way) and translated at the end of the chapter.

Feel free to review. Or just wait silently and expectantly for the next chapter. Either one works.

Sincerely,

Fia

Shimoda Jun – When the leaders of the countries meet in Kishimoto's version (in ch. 457), only the five _kage_ are present, overseen by Iron Country's leader as a neutral party. Thus, it would be logical that the smaller countries aren't powerful enough to have their leaders qualify as _kage._ So, Shimoda Jun is pretty much the battle commander of Ame no Kuni shinobi without actually holding a position like Amekage.

_mendōkusei_ – Shikamaru's catchphrase, translates to "what a drag" or, more commonly in fanfiction, "troublesome."

ryō – type of Japanese currency before the yen was established. Even though I'm naming Kishimoto's currency as ryō, I kept the current dollar to yen exchange rate so six hundred ryō is about five (American) dollars.

_shōgi _– Japanese version of chess, complete with king, knights, pawns and other typical pieces. Also a game at which Shikamaru is unusually talented, losing only to his father.

_sakki_ – killing intent (admittedly, I got this one from good translations of _Rurouni Kenshin_ as opposed to good translations of _Naruto_).

Geography – I prefer to use the Japanese place names instead of the English, so I thought I'd include a brief rundown of everything I mentioned (don't expect it every chapter, but just for review):

Ame no Kuni: Rain Country, ninja village: Amegakure (borders Tsuchi to the north, Hi to the east, and Kaze to the south)

Hi no Kuni: Fire Country, ninja village: Konohagakure (or Konoha)

Tsuchi no Kuni: Earth Country, ninja village: Iwagakure (or Iwa)

Tetsu no Kuni: Iron Country (this country actually makes its appearance in manga chapter 457 as the meeting place of all five _kage._ Since Kishimoto never places it anyway specific—though it does snow there—I guessed it was between Ta no Kuni and Taki no Kuni. Seemed equidistant for all countries.)

Ta no Kuni: Rice Paddy Country, ninja village: Otogakure (or Oto, Orochimaru's homebase)

Mizu no Kuni: Water Country, ninja village: Kirigakure (or Kiri)

Taki no Kuni: Waterfall Country (borders Earth Country to the east)

Kaminari no Kuni: Lightning Country, ninja village: Kumogakure (or Kumo)

Kaze no Kuni: Wind Country, ninja village: Sunagakure (or Suna, I don't actually think I mentioned this one, but it's about the only one I didn't so for the sake of being thorough, there it is)

If you're still confused, go do a google search for a Naruto world map. There are some good ones out there.


	3. In Which He Fights

Chapter 2: In Which He Fights

_You shall judge a man by his foes as well as by his friends._

~Joseph Conrad

**o0O0o**

Masao felt the ground quail beneath him and knew that it wasn't natural.

"What the hell was that!" Yu shouted. He glanced up and scanned the ceiling as if he were afraid it was about to cave in on him.

To their credit, the Konoha shinobi looked as apprehensive as Masao's comrades. The one whose mouth looked slightly too full of teeth for a normal person—Kiba, he appropriately said his name was—bolted to his feet, knocking his chair backwards and scattering _shōgi _pieces across the floor in the process. The girl's eyes were wide and attentive. Apparently, they hadn't been expecting their enemy here. Michi laid his hand on the scattered _shōgi _pieces, drawing everyone's eyes to himself.

"Ito, go tell Raiden-sama that Oto is attacking the village," he commanded.

The boy nodded and left, hearing the commander in his father's tone. Masao was the oldest of all the retired ninja in Hafuko—and there were quite a few. He could still remember what Ame had been like under both Hanzo the Salamander and the nuke-nin bent on world domination, the one who called himself _God_. Masao remembered war and while he had the most experience of all the men in the village, he also knew his strengths. Leading was not one of them. He was perfectly content to be ordered around by the younger generation, even Michi.

"You two start getting people to the bunker." Michi looked at the remaining kids in the shop.

"What about _sensei_?" Kaito interjected.

Masao transferred his attention from his disassembled _shōgi _board to the boy.

"He won't want you near the fighting, Kaito," he admonished.

As bright of a ninja as Kaito was, he was still young, just barely old enough to be considered a real ninja in most countries. Mei was even younger, by not quite two years. Either way, neither of them needed to see the business of battle. The bunker beneath the far western wall of the town had been in use since before the civil war, back when Ame had to worry about encroaching Suna or Iwa troops engaged in their own Secret War. If Kaito and Mei were delegated to helping the regular citizens escape danger, it was a happy coincidence that they would avoid danger themselves. Everyone knew that Raiden-sama was protective of those he considered "his."

"Come on, Kaito-kun," Mei urged the boy quietly.

Kaito's eyes darted from the girl to the shinobi gathered in Yu's store, pausing to narrow into a glare when his eyes caught Kiba-san's. Then Kaito lowered his head again and nodded somberly. He turned, still clutching Mei's hand tightly in his own, and stomped out of the store back into the rain.

"He won't make trouble, will he?" asked Yu with an undertone of worry.

Masao only shook his head.

"He wouldn't put Mei-chan in danger," he answered the younger man.

Silence reigned in the small shop for a few moments before Kiba of Konoha decided it was his place to demand answers.

"Why is Oto coming to this town?" Kiba snarled at Michi, who had already designated himself as leader by giving orders before anyone else.

Michi only glanced at the Konoha-nin and then turned back to facing the front of the store.

"You're meeting with our enemies, bastard." The brown-haired man bared his teeth at Michi in a primal display of aggression. "Explain that."

"No one here has relations with Otogakure," Masao answered coldly for his friend. "Perhaps you were not so silent in your approach as you thought."

Kiba shifted his anger from Michi to Masao, but he made no response. Masao guessed that was due mostly—if not entirely—to the hand that the kunoichi had laid on his arm.

"What now?" Yu demanded in the tension that filled the small store.

"We'll wait and see what Raiden-sama says," announced Michi firmly.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke rushed after Shikamaru only to stop short once he entered the open store again. Raiden stood, arms akimbo, just in front of the wooden counter in the small furniture store and frowned at the boy who was still in the process of watching the store. Although, Mako now looked notably distracted from the task that Raiden had given him.

"Mako?" Raiden's call was a demand and a question all in one.

"Ya got me, _sensei_," answered Mako with a shrug. But his eyes were wide and alert, scanning the road outside through the rain covered windows.

Sasuke didn't even have a chance to make demands of his own when another boy, a few years older than Mako, vaulted through the door from outside.

"Ito," Raiden cried immediately, with all the authority of a commander. "What's going on?"

Ito, soaked from the rain and panting as if he had run for miles, glanced over the two dark shinobi behind Raiden's counter before he dismissed them as apparently non-threatening.

"Oto's attacking," he gasped. "Father's already gathering the others, but—"

"Why would Sound nin be here?" Shikamaru interrupted suddenly, harshly.

Mako snapped his head around and pinned gray eyes onto the only two adults in the room who actually _looked _dangerous.

"You're the ones fighting him," the boy accused hotly.

Sasuke glared back. This place was getting under his skin, and it was an unfamiliar sensation to him. He hated it.

"We weren't followed," Sasuke declared with no room for disagreement, even from a hotheaded kid.

"Yeah, because you're just that good, _teme_?" Raiden shot back over his shoulder.

Sasuke was so surprised by the insult—so casually tossed out—that he actually forgot to be insulted for a moment. Then, red hot anger burned through his veins in a way that reminded him of being twelve again and facing off a boy who thought he was just as good as Sasuke was. But Raiden cut him off succinctly with a raised hand.

"Wait," he commanded.

Raiden faced the store with his back still to the counter and lowered his hand again, slowly. Sasuke clenched his teeth and rounded the counter hurriedly to face the nuke-nin. But Raiden was not paying attention to him, or to anyone for that matter. His eyes were closed, his hands now unmoving by his sides. As Sasuke watched the man, dark shadows grew around his eyes. Sasuke frowned at the strange cross between the kind of wound someone would get in a bar fight and the deep, dark shadows that _still _encircled Godaime Kazekage's eyes.

"Nine of them," Raiden announced suddenly, "all outside, all from the front. Three others are going around."

The man opened his eyes and lifted his head to Sasuke. The shadows around his eyes were gone, but the Henge was still firmly in place.

"And I thought _you _guys went overboard," he muttered. He turned immediately to the two boys who were waiting tensely. "Ito, go to your father and tell him to take the team at the gate. They're a distraction for the others."

"But—" Ito protested then suddenly cut himself off. His dark eyes flickered to Sasuke then back to Raiden. "He's with two Konoha-nin, Raiden-sama."

Well, the boy certainly wasn't concerned about hiding his mistrust of Sasuke and his comrades.

"I know." Raiden nodded once, firmly. "Don't worry."

Ito nodded in return, and Sasuke could see the boy swallow hard before he turned and raced back out into the rain. Raiden spun on his heel and shoved his forefinger into Sasuke's face.

"Stay here," the nuke-nin commanded like a grandfather reprimanding a wayward child.

Sasuke just stared at the man's back for a moment before setting his jaw and taking after the man.

"Hey," called Mako from behind him. "He told you to stay. Hey!"

It was easy to ignore the boy's cries of indignation as Sasuke threaded his way back through the kitchen, where the _sake_ still dripped into a puddle underneath the table, and into the back room. The sole occupant was kneeling with his back to the doorway, bent over an open trunk. Raiden's hands were raised, just finishing tying a black cloth around his head and knotting it at the base of his skull. His hunched shoulders prevented Sasuke from seeing the man's face, but Sasuke was sure that Raiden had dismissed his Henge of Genkei, as the skin of his hands was smooth and clear, like a young man's instead of an old carpenter's. Shikamaru and the kid, Mako, bustled into the room after Sasuke, but he ignored them as well.

"How do you know where they are?" Sasuke demanded.

"I can feel them," the man answered shortly as he reached into the trunk in front of him. He still didn't turn to show any part of his face, although Sasuke caught a glimpse of a shadow on his right cheek, like a scar.

"You're a chakra sensor?" Shikamaru tried to confirm.

Sasuke's mind raced with the implications. The few chakra sensors he knew, Karin having been the most prominent, all had varying ranges. It could have been that Raiden knew they were coming from kilometers away, but at the same time he had seemed genuinely surprised at the news that Oto-nin were making their approach. Besides, it looked like he had to stop and concentrate in order to find out the enemy's exact numbers and location.

Raiden stood up and turned to face his guests. One hand held a ceramic mask up to his face as the other worked to fasten it securely in place. The mask was white, blank except for two round eyeholes and a red spiral design that cut sideways across Raiden's left cheek with the center of the swirl taking the place of his mouth.

"Mako, go to the gate with Michi's team," Raiden commanded shortly. It was hard to tell where his eyes were looking behind the mask. "I'll take care of the team outside the city. They're the strongest."

The man twisted back to the trunk and withdrew two cloth pouches by their long straps. He tossed one to the waiting Mako, who caught it with both hands. Sasuke heard the _clink_ of metal against metal from within the bag and guessed it stored shuriken or other weapons.

"Why's the snake sending his strongest to Hafuko?" Mako questioned in a rush of breath as he bent down to fasten the pouch to his right leg, within easy reach of his arm.

"I can think of two reasons." Raiden reflected Mako's motions, affixing his own pouch to his right thigh. "Either way, they're not here for Ame."

Raiden reached into the trunk one last time, pulled out a length of cloth, and kicked the lid shut with his foot. He shrugged the cloth across his shoulders in one smooth motion to reveal a long coat that fell almost to his knees. The blood-red color contrasted vibrantly with his dark ensemble and drew Sasuke's eyes to the hem of the coat, where the red color ended in a black design that danced like flames along the edge of the coat.

Thus prepared for battle, Raiden strode to the doorway with Mako following behind like a ducking. Sasuke braced his hands on the frame on either side of him, blocking Raiden's way. Shikamaru said nothing from behind him, although Sasuke was sure that Raiden's eyes traveled briefly to the jounin before coming to rest on Sasuke.

"Outa my way, Uchiha," ordered the man coldly.

Sasuke didn't wonder how the man knew his name. The _tomoe_ in his eyes were kind of a giveaway for anyone who kept track of bloodlines.

"No," Sasuke shot back. "Two reasons. Either they're here because of us, or because of you."

Sasuke was still sure that the encroaching Oto shinobi hadn't followed his team to Hafuko, which left the reasoning that they were here for Raiden himself. If that were the case, Sasuke wanted to know what drove Orochimaru to such lengths to find this man. Orochimaru clearly considered Raiden an enemy, but if this god of thunder was enough to make Orochimaru actively pursue him, that caught Sasuke's interest. Raiden's blank white face continued to stare at Sasuke's cool expression then suddenly, abruptly, ducked with his chin tucked into his chest.

"You are a bastard," muttered the broad man in a tone that almost sounded resigned.

Raiden suddenly raised his head again and looked behind him at the boy.

"Mako, take the genius with you." Raiden fixed his masked face back in front of him. Sasuke could almost see the lightness of the man's eyes through the holes in his mask. "Uchiha comes with me."

"Why?" Mako demanded.

"Do it, Mako," Raiden snapped.

"_Hai_, Raiden-sama." Mako's ground out his response through gritted teeth.

Sasuke dropped his arms as Mako squeezed past him, deliberately bumping against Sasuke's side as he passed. Sasuke didn't bother looking behind him to confirm that Shikamaru left with the kid. He already felt both of them leave the room and heard the door jingle behind them. Still, Sasuke kept his eyes on Raiden.

"I'm gonna hafta smack him for that when we get back." Raiden shook his head in exasperation.

Sasuke was surprised at his tone of voice. Where the man had previously sounded like the epitome of a cool commander, now his voice carried an amused thoughtfulness to it. Then Raiden's mask turned to Sasuke abruptly.

"C'mon, Uchiha-teme." Raiden beckoned with one hand as he made his way past Sasuke to the door. "Let's go see what Oto wants."

Sasuke followed behind the man, wondering how he was so sure just by tone of voice that Raiden was smiling, and why he was so unnerved by that thought.

**o0O0o**

Mako barely paid attention to where he was going. He knew the rain-soaked streets of Hafuko well enough to run them blindfolded and still beat Kaito in any race the two of them managed to set up. At the moment, his attention was far more consumed by the man at his back. Either Oto was here for the Konoha nin or for _sensei_ himself, and either way—

"You guys are troublesome," announced Mako under his breath.

He could feel sharp eyes on the back of his neck, like when he got the feeling that _sensei_ was standing right behind him. He didn't really care what the Konoha nin, Nara, thought of him or his words. _Sensei_ always said that Mako was brutally honest, but he always said it with a smile so Mako guessed it was a good thing. The man behind his _was _troublesome, but only for one specific reason.

"Even if Oto followed _you _here," continued the boy, "now they're gonna find _sensei_."

"Raiden?" Nara confirmed.

"_Orochi-teme's_ been after him for years." Mako turned a corner abruptly and headed for the village gates. "Ever since _sensei_ took Kaito from Asahi."

"Took what?"

Mako ignored the question, although he told himself that was only because he spotted Michi-san standing on a sealed barrel in the rain, shouting orders to the group of mostly men and boys gathered in front of him.

"Shikamaru!" another voice, rough and male, cried out over Michi's final instructions.

Scanning the crowd quickly, Mako immediately spotted the other Konoha nin: one guy and one girl. Then, he shot the girl a double-take. He didn't really know hair could be that color, even in the rain. The man bore red marks on his cheeks that Mako remembered was a trait of some group of Konoha nin; he couldn't remember which, though. _Sensei_ would probably drill him later if Mako admitted that in front of him.

"What's going on?" the marked man demanded of Nara.

Mako decided the Konoha nin could fend for themselves for a while.

"Michi-san!" Mako waved vigorously to catch the man's attention and shouldered his way through the crowd on the soaked street.

"Mako-kun." Michi jumped down from his perch on the barrel.

"_Sensei_ said the genius could come with me," Mako declared and hoped that the request made more sense to the man than it did to him. He wasn't about to say anything about Uchiha. That was weird in and of itself, and _sensei_ never talked about Konoha with Mako, much less his comrades in Hafuko.

Michi shot the three foreign ninja a dark glance then looked back at Mako, who only shrugged.

"You know there's nine guys?" confirmed Mako.

"Yes, Ito told us."

Mako nodded, satisfied that Michi had things under control. He could deal with the Konoha nin that Mako wasn't too concerned about. The boy cast a quick glance around the crowd, jumping up at one point in an effort to see above the adults' heads. The majority of the people gathered to defend their village were men, all holding the weapons leftover from the war. Some had actual blades, like the _katana _that Michi-san held, but most held only a pouch of sharpened senbon. The traditional weapon of Ame were easy to make, if not requiring a little more training to use. Mako had always been better with _sensei_'s heavier knives and throwing stars. But even within the armed crowd, Mako couldn't see what he was searching for.

"Michi-san, where's Kaito and Mei-chan?" he suddenly demanded.

"They went to the bunker," answered Michi.

Mako's eyes immediately went to the west, where the bunker was dug out under the largest building in town, a silo that housed raw ore back when the city had actually been a mining town. They were probably safe, then. Michi stood back up on the barrel and surveyed the mismatched troops.

"You all know your teams!" he shouted. "Now—"

A great crash from the earth itself interrupted Michi's final words. Mako ducked to his knees, raising one arm over his head for protection.

"The bunker!" one of the men shouted in the silence that followed the explosion.

Mako looked up and saw the cloud of dark smoke rising from the west, close enough to be within the town's limits.

"No!" he cried, leaping to his feet.

The enemy was supposed to be heading for the gate. They couldn't know where the civilians were gathered. But the smoke was far too close to the bunker for comfort's sake.

"Masao-san!" Michi yelled commandingly. "Take your team to find out what that was!"

"I'm going with!" Mako declared and glared at Michi to let him know that any command otherwise would be ignored. The only one who could command Mako out of danger was his _sensei_.

Michi nodded at the boy shortly.

"So am I," a female voice joined in.

Mako looked up suddenly. The Konoha woman with pale pink hair stood at his shoulder, looking just as determined as Mei-chan ever had when she decided she was going with _sensei_.

"Sakura," the red-cheeked shinobi called hesitantly.

"I'm a med-nin." The kunoichi named Sakura ignored her comrade's call. "I can help if anyone's hurt."

Michi frowned at the new development, but Mako just glared at Michi. They didn't have time for this debating who could trust whom and sifting possible-allies from the-friend-of-my-friend-might-be-my-enemy-anyway.

"Whatever!" Mako finally threw up his hands and swiped the back of his arm across his eyes to wipe the rain from them. "Just keep up!"

He took off down the street without looking back.

"Kiba, stay here," Nara commanded from behind Mako.

Soon, Mako heard the _splash_ of heavier footsteps surround him. He was still leading the way, but Masao was close behind him, alongside Masao's son Shui. Two others followed behind; Mako recognized them as the Tsubaki brothers, who were both only a few years older than Mako himself. Behind them were two Konoha ninja: the one called Sakura and the Nara that Sensei had sent along.

Mako's head snapped back to the street as he veered sharply to the right. He couldn't worry about too many things at once. Sensei would be all right; he was strong. Mako didn't really know what the team from Konoha was doing, other than fighting a common enemy, but they weren't _his _enemies so Mako wasn't going to worry about that until maybe after the battle when he had time to think. Right now, every beat of his pulse in his ears only sang one song to him: Get to where Kaito and Mei were.

**o0O0o**

"Open the gate!"

Kiba wiped the rivulets of rain away from his eyes with one hand as he prepared for the charge. He still hated this stupid country, and his mission had just gotten that much more complicated with the appearance of Sound ninja. He hated Sound ninja.

Michi, the clear leader of the mismatched forces that Hafuko had gathered, stood in the front of the pack and raised his hand. A dark-haired man threw a large latch on the metal two-meter high fence that surrounded the village. A section of the fence swung out toward the eastern road with the weight of the metal. Outside, Kiba could only see the curtain of rain ever-present in Ame. Then, Akamaru started growling as the damp fur on his neck bristled and stood on end.

"Yeah," Kiba muttered. "I smell 'em, too."

Just under the constant smell of rain and mud, Kiba could smell human sweat. Luckily for him, Oto-nin didn't know the importance of bathing.

With the way open, the men standing beside Kiba shot out into the rain while Kiba vaulted onto Akamaru's back and followed his temporary teammates out. At first, the muddy field outside Hafuko only looked like chaos. There were at least half a dozen ninja with a single musical note on their wet _hitai-ate_; mostly likely a total of three teams, like Michi had said. Most of the Hafuko villagers split immediately into smaller groups, mostly three- or four-man groups that clashed with the ninja. No one was left alone, except Kiba and Akamaru.

Kiba leaned forward until he laid nearly flat along Akamaru's back. His hand slipped into the pouch attached to his leg and hooked around two kunai, withdrawing them to transfer one to his free hand. Akamaru continued to gallop in a dog's jerky gait toward the fighting, and Kiba saw their target. The ninja was taller than average with a dark cloth around his neck and mouth. Clutching a sharpened knife in each hand, Kiba let his head hover over the dog's neck, knowing Akamaru's ears would pick up the command.

"Go for it."

Akamaru's answering growl reverberated under Kiba's chest. The Oto shinobi's shadowed eyes caught sight of the giant wolf-like dog charging at him and suddenly gave them his full attention. Kiba saw the man clasp his hands together in a series of signs before he called out his jutsu.

"_Doton: Retsudo Tenshou_!"

The ground beneath Akamaru shifted and tore itself up. Akamaru used his forepaws to push himself into the air above the boiling ground and kept moving forward. The Oto ninja dodged the wide maw of the beastial dog as Akamaru's teeth closed just astride of his shoulder.

Kiba slid to the side and released the vice grip his knees kept around Akamaru's belly. The _ninken_'s momentum propelled Kiba in the same direction the man was fleeing. Kiba raised his arms, crossed in front of him, and sliced through the man's neck with one quick slash that straightened his arms. The kunai cut through both the jugular veins on his enemy and splashed the ruined ground with blood.

Akamaru skidded to a stop in front of Kiba as the man fell backwards to the ground. Kiba flicked the blood off his blades the way one would a sword and hurried to catch up with Akamaru. Casually, he flipped one kunai in the air and caught it in his left hand, leaving his right hand free to bury his fingers into Akamaru's scruff. It was a silent commendation between partners.

Kiba scanned the area quickly, not giving the dead man a second glance. Most of the Oto nin were outnumbered. Either they hadn't been expecting so many common villagers to know how to fight shinobi, or they weren't supposed to be an attack force in the first place. Kiba's eyes rested on a pair of shinobi with the musical note shining proudly on their foreheads. They looked identical in nearly every respect, right down to the thick guards on their arms. But each of them only bore a single armguard, one on his right arm while his twin carried his on his left arm.

A dark-haired kid, probably about five years younger than Kiba, stood in front of the twins with a handful of needles in his fist. The twins did not look intimidated. Standing next to each other, they formed a reflection of each other as they thrust forward the thick armguards. The force that blew outwards from the Oto twins had to be soundwaves. That was the only explanation for the lack of any visible attack. The dark-haired kid flew backwards, lifted off the ground by the force of the blow. Kiba's eyes followed the boy's form as he released Akamaru's fur.

"Akamaru!" Kiba ordered. "Make sure you get that guy so we know where he goes."

Akamaru barked out a "_Hai!_" and darted off in one direction while Kiba raced through the curtain of rain towards the downed fighter. The Hafuko boy slowly pushed himself to sit up as Kiba slid to a stop beside him.

"_Kuso,_" the boy muttered, pressing the heel of his hand to his forehead.

"You okay, kid?" demanded Kiba.

"Fine." The kid glared stubbornly up at Kiba despite a split lip that leaked blood down his chin.

"Takehiko!"

Both shinobi glanced around to where a lighter-haired kid, about the same age as the boy now plastered with mud, shoved his opponent back with a _katana_ and stared worriedly at his friend. The boy next to Kiba surged to his feet and balled his hands into fists.

"I'm fine!" Takehiko shouted back. "Keep your eyes on the stupid sword, _ahou_!"

One corner of Kiba's mouth turned up slowly. Shikamaru was probably somewhere complaining about the _troublesome_ situation they were in, having to fight with their enemy alongside allies they knew nothing about. But Kiba kinda liked this kid from Hafuko. He was obviously stubborn enough to want to hide any weakness from friends as well as foes. Besides, the way Takehiko reprimanded his friend reminded Kiba of his own relationship with Shino. The guy still annoyed the hell out of Kiba sometimes, even after so many years on the same team, but there was no one Kiba would rather have watch his back—excepting Akamaru, of course.

Takehiko groaned and swiped at the blood and water coursing down his face. Akamaru raced up to the pair and dug his claws into the ground to stop as Kiba stood to greet his large partner and shoved his dirtied kunai back into his pouch.

"Did you get 'em?" Kiba demanded of the dog.

Akamaru let out an affirmative growl and shook the excess water from his fur.

"Where's the freaky clone twins?" Takehiko demanded as he glanced around, looking for a body or something to confirm Kiba's kill.

Kiba only raised his head and breathed deeply of the rain-and-mud-soaked air around him. Beneath the smell of fresh water that slowly washed away every scent except the mud, Kiba caught a whiff of Akamaru's pungent smell. There. The cowards were biding their time just under the surface of the earth. They were probably dry and warm, too, the bastards.

"They burrowed underneath," reported Kiba.

"Then you didn't get 'em at all," protested Takehiko hotly. "They're still under the ground."

"Yeah, but now I know where." Kiba grinned wildly. "Akamaru!"

They had to act quickly before the two Oto shinobi decided to venture back out into the rain to attack again. Not only would they pose a direct threat, but the rain would wash off Akamaru's Dynamic Marking. Kiba leaped onto Akamaru's back again and laced his own chakra with the _ninken_ as they executed the _Juujin Bunshin_. Takehiko leaped back from the sudden appearance of two identical ninja where only one had stood before. Both had extended bicuspids and nails that looked more like claws.

Kiba knelt on the ground with his hands braced in front of him while Akamaru crouched on all fours by his side. His senses were even sharper in this form, and he could pinpoint exactly where the two ninja had tunneled and where they had stopped to rest. Kiba didn't even have to command Akamaru. They both pushed off the ground at the same speed with the same target in mind. Kiba dug his right foot into the ground to generate the spin he needed for his technique.

"_Gatsuuga_!" Kiba yelled, his voice echoing the call that Akamaru's altered vocal cords made.

With his clawed hands extended in front of him, Kiba felt his nails hit the muddy ground and drill through to his target beneath the surface. His claws sunk into a substance softer than the ground around it, and Kiba stopped. He stood in the hole he had created and surveyed the body at his feet. Creepy-twin-guy no longer had a face; it was pretty much slashed now. Kiba threw his head back to let the rain soak his face and grinned vindictively.

"Hell, yeah," he muttered.

He climbed out of the drilled hole and pulled himself back to ground level. Akamaru, back in his canine form, leaped out of a similar hole not ten meters from Kiba's and gave a sloppy shake. A series of wet slaps—footsteps in the rain—approached both attackers quickly, and Kiba spun to see who was coming only to face the boy, Takehiko. Takehiko stared at the Konoha jounin for a moment, and Kiba wondered if he made such a morbid picture that the kid didn't know what to do with him.

"Do all Konoha nin charge in with their heads first?" demanded Takehiko after a moment. His mouth turned up in a cheeky grin. Kiba smiled back with an expression that was fueled mostly by adrenaline.

"Do all Ame nin wait for the rain to stop to hit?" he returned.

Akamaru growled a canine version of a laugh. Kiba liked these Hafuko guys.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke landed in a large puddle outside the plain fence that surrounded the village. The ground in front of him was cracked and split into a narrow canyon that led to a large structure just inside the city's boundaries. A man with a soaked Oto _hitai-ate_ stood at the maw of the canyon while a second figure stood at a distance with his hands clasped together.

"Go get the _Doton_ guy," Raiden ordered as he landed next to Sasuke. The man's feet had just touched the rain-soaked ground when he took off again, leaping into the air towards the shadowed figure beyond the man-made canyon.

Sasuke huffed at being commanded, but accepted the task. He pushed up his sleeves as he dashed forward, wishing he hadn't left his _katana _in Konoha. The man who had made the small canyon jumped back and brought his hands together in a series of hand signs that Sasuke didn't recognize. Sasuke pressed his fingers to the symbols on the cloth that covered his wrists and grasped the shuriken that suddenly appeared. The weapons were enough to interrupt the Oto-nin's preparation for his jutsu as he dodged the first throwing star and caught the second one in a bloodied hand.

The pause lasted long enough for Sasuke to land behind the man and pull out a kunai in his left hand. It only took a brief thought to encase the blade in Lightning Chakra. The Sound ninja spun around to face his opponent, but Sasuke already had the blue blade pointed at the other's heart.

"_Chidori Eisou_," Sasuke hissed through his teeth.

The chirping of a thousand birds suddenly sounded like ten thousand as the Lightning blade extended in a straight spear to catch the man in his chest just as he planted his feet to face Sasuke. From the corner of his eye, Sasuke saw Raiden draw his hand across his enemy's chest. The Oto shinobi looked shocked as blood poured from a slash across his front. Satisfied that at least one Oto nin was dead, Sasuke returned his attention to his own opponent. The man with a Lightning spear in his chest was struggling to remove a blade made of pure chakra. Sasuke merely stared at him blankly and flicked his left wrist. The extended blade cut through the man's rib cage and dissipated once outside of the body. The Oto man fell to his knees as Raiden came alongside Sasuke.

"Is it just me, or was that anticlimactic?" demanded Raiden in a lilting voice.

Sasuke looked blankly at his companion and deigned not to answer. But it _was _strange. Raiden had said the strongest of Oto's forces had remained outside the village to the west. These two had hardly qualified as strong, at least compared to Sasuke. Then, above the constant drone of rain, Sasuke heard the slow slap of someone clapping. Raiden's body tensed as his left hand clenched into a hard fist.

"Well done, Raiden-sama," announced a cool voice from Sasuke's right. "Next time, I shall be sure to bring you more of a challenge."

Raiden's white ceramic face turned slowly to gaze at a point just over Sasuke's shoulder. Even with the knowledge that Raiden wasn't his enemy, Sasuke nearly flinched from the amount of _sakki_ radiating from the cloaked man. He turned just enough so he could see the source of Raiden's anger without also turning his back on Raiden.

The man had a long tan coat to protect him from the rain, but his head was bare and dripping wet. Short, dark hair was plastered to his skull and caused rivulets of water to stream down the sides of his face. Sasuke's eyes caught sight of the dark plugs that decorated both of the man's earlobes, but more striking were the hazel eyes—more gold than green—and easy smile on his face, as if he were meeting an old friend instead of an enemy.

"_Shimatta_," growled Raiden from Sasuke's opposite side.

Sasuke took a step back so that it was easier to keep both Raiden and the newcomer in his peripheral vision.

"Friend of yours?" He raised one eyebrow at the tense Raiden.

"Noboru." Raiden named the man without turning his eyes to Sasuke. "You're still with the snake?"

Sasuke flipped back to Noboru, but the man didn't even seem perturbed by the accusation.

"Of course," he replied flippantly. "Orochimaru-sama allows me to continue my research."

Sasuke's eyebrows came together in a cold glare. Any research condoned by the leader of Oto could not be pleasant, much less ethical. Noboru noticed Sasuke's glare and turned his attention on the Konoha-nin.

"Uchiha Sasuke," noted Noboru. "Orochimaru-sama said nothing of encountering you here."

Sasuke almost turned to face Noboru fully, but he didn't want his back to Raiden, either.

"Who the hell are you?" he demanded.

Noboru's smile only grew.

"You don't remember me, do you?" He waved one hand through the air as if to bat away the rain. "Of course, I was a genin when you attempted to dispose of Orochimaru-sama."

Sasuke studied the man harder. He looked a scant handful of years older than Sasuke himself, but Sasuke could not recall any instance of seeing Noboru, either within Orochimaru's base or later when he was traveling in search of teammates who could help him. Noboru must not have been important enough at the time to warrant Orochimaru's attention; and Sasuke's attention had been devoted solely to the task of getting stronger.

"What the hell are you doing here, Noburo?" Raiden demanded before Sasuke could delve too deeply into his time in Oto.

"Isn't it obvious?" Noboru's eyes shifted from Sasuke to Raiden. "You didn't give Orochimaru-sama your answer."

"I kill off fifty of his ninja, and he wants to give me a job?" Behind the mask, Raiden's voice sounded both strained and incredulous. "Not interested."

"But you are such an interesting specimen, Raiden-sama," Noboru protested.

Sasuke cast a glance back to Raiden at that. A _specimen_ was a hell of a thing to call a potential ally. Sasuke looked back at Noboru, and suddenly his vision swam. He shook his head quickly and kept his Sharingan eyes pinned on Orochimaru's representative determinedly.

"How many times have you died?" asked Noboru, completely ignoring Sasuke. "What happens to your neurons when you cease to live? How are they able to remain functional after—"

"Why are you asking questions you already know about, _yarou_?" Raiden returned suspiciously.

Suddenly, Raiden's head cocked at a crooked angle. Sasuke felt a sharp stab in his temples, just behind his eyes as his head turned sharply to regard both Raiden and Noboru. He grit his teeth and willed his eyes to focus on the masked visage with the single red swirl— Hell, now even _that _was making him dizzy. Raiden looked down and held out one hand with his palm up to catch the rain.

"Are you even human?" Noboru questioned somewhere beyond Sasuke's line of vision.

"Shit!" Raiden swore suddenly. "When did you release it?"

Noboru grinned widely.

"When you were busy killing Daisuke and Keiji."

Sasuke looked back at Noboru, but suddenly it wasn't a short-haired Oto shinobi grinning back at him. Instead, his hair hung in long, limp locks around his face, and his eyes narrowed to yellow slits at Sasuke. How was Orochimaru able to appear so suddenly? Maybe he had been using this Noboru for his next body, and had just now decided to reveal himself in the presence of his former prize from Konoha. Sasuke stepped back until he stood alongside Raiden. His clutched his kunai firmly in his left hand and glared fiercely at his new enemy.

Suddenly, a hand came down heavy on Sasuke's shoulder. He knew without turning his head that Raiden was holding him back.

"You're working with him, now?" Sasuke demanded.

"No, idiot," snapped the masked man. "Don't charge at him. His specialty is—"

Sasuke shook off Raiden's arm and faced Orochimaru's figure with his clean blade raised parallel to the ground. The familiar tingle of electricity shot through his arm and encased the shinobi knife in a sheath that would cut through anything. Sasuke willed the chakra to extend toward his enemy in his _Chidori Eisou_, but suddenly Orochimaru wasn't in front of him anymore. Sasuke cast his eyes around only to face Noboru's crouched form behind him. Noboru's foot slid in a wide arc across the ground then swept up in a roundhouse kick aimed for Sasuke's head. Sasuke jumped back to avoid the blow, but the rainwater and mud from the ground splashed into his face.

As he raised his free hand to swipe at his dirtied face, Sasuke felt his head swim again. Instead of helping him, the Sharingan only blurred the colors and shapes around him until Sasuke wasn't even sure he remained upright. An arm wrapped around Sasuke's shoulders and pulled him backwards. Already dizzy, Sasuke stumbled and fell to one knee in the mud.

"_Baka_!" Raiden shouted from in front of Sasuke. "He already put it in the water."

Sasuke frowned and raised his hand to his temple. Nothing was making sense. What was in the water? And why did Raiden's long coat suddenly look orange?

"Sasuke." Raiden's back loomed over Sasuke's body as both of the man's hands filled with a light that almost blinded Sasuke. "Hold your breath."

Wincing against the light that silhouetted Raiden's body, Sasuke peered at the scene in front of him as he was compelled to obey. His chest felt weighed down with a pressure, like he was underwater. Vaguely, Sasuke wondered why Raiden looked shorter than he should. His red coat morphed into a bright orange jacket, his masked features became a round face under a head of bright gold hair, and the last thing Sasuke saw was the ghost of his old teammate.

_"Sasuke, you take it easy. Just leave the rest up to me."_

**o0O0o**_  
_

The building was cracked and falling on itself, and Sakura could already see the people crawling tentatively out from beneath fallen sheets of metal and steel planks.

"Hao! Bao!" Masao called imperatively. "Hold up those beams."

The two teenage brothers, who couldn't be that much younger than Sakura was, dashed forward. They made hurried hand signs as they ran toward the highest tower in Hafuko. Beside Sakura, Mako was looking less at the fallen structure and more at the twisted streets they passed.

"Kaito!" Mako suddenly slid to a stop, his shoes slipping on the wet ground as he changed directions abruptly. "Mei!"

"Mako-kun," Sakura called out as she followed. She heard Shikamaru mutter something behind her—probably something to the effect of what a troublesome team he had—but she ignored it and followed the boy down a side street.

Mako pulled up to a pair of figures that Sakura recognized as the same dark-haired girl and boy that she had seen in the hardware store. The girl, Mei, was huddled under the eaves of what looked like a residential building while Kaito tugged on her wrist.

"Come on, Mei-chan," Kaito urged as Mako and Sakura approached them.

"What's wrong?" Mako asked hurriedly.

"She got scared of the earthquake. She thought it was thunder." Kaito didn't seem the least bit surprised to see Mako suddenly by his side. But then the boy caught sight of Sakura and glared at the kunoichi.

"Stop it," snapped Mako, tossing a glare back at the younger boy as he knelt to Mei's level. "Mei-chan? C'mon, we gotta go."

Mei lifted wide eyes to the boy in front of her and bit her lip.

"It's okay, _mei mei_." Mako ran his hand down Mei's arm gently. "_Sensei _went to fight them. He won't let anyone get hurt, _ne_?"

Mei nodded solemnly and placed one hand into Mako's extended palm. The light-haired boy smiled and got to his feet, pulling the smaller girl along with him. Sakura watched the scene unfold and felt a small pain in her chest. These kids cared about each other; that much was obvious. It proved something she had known for years: people couldn't survive without bonds.

Suddenly, Sakura felt something shift in the air above her.

"Look out!" Shikamaru called from behind her.

Running up the side street by himself, Shikamaru grabbed Sakura's arm and jerked her backward. Sakura fell into his chest with an '_oomph_' as her eyes tracked a section of metal roofing as it slid off the building to her right side. Sakura pushed off the slippery terrain with her heels to avoid getting clipped with the edge of the metal. As she watched it fall, her eyes fell on its landing place, right on top of Mako's outstretched body as he pushed Mei and Kaito to the other side of the narrow street.

"Mako-kun!" shouted the young girl.

Sakura broke free of Shikamaru's hold on her and rushed forward. Rather than reprimand her, Shikamaru appeared at her side as she knelt in the mud beside the fallen roof. Sakura grabbed one side, the edge digging into her gloves, while Shikamaru took the other and heaved. The sheet lifted easily between the two of them, revealing a young boy, soaking wet and curled into a ball.

"Yee-ow," groaned Mako.

Sakura gave the boy a cursory glance. The most obvious wound was his left leg, where the edge of the metal had dug into his skin. Mei broke away from Kaito and fell to her knees behind Mako. The girl put her hands on the older boy's shoulders and helped him sit up.

"Does it hurt anywhere?" Sakura demanded. If he had any internal wounds, Mako shouldn't be sitting up.

"Just my leg." Mako grimaced but pushed himself to sit with his back to Mei.

"Stay still," Sakura commanded firmly.

She laid both her palms on Mako's scraped leg and used the green chakra that enveloped her hands to probe at the wound. It looked like a simple fracture; the bone hadn't chipped or pierced the skin, which made recovery much easier. Mei took Sakura's command more seriously than Mako did as she wrapped her slender arms around the older boy's chest and pinned him in his place. Kaito stood in the street in front of the huddled trio, overseeing the treatment with his arms crossed. At least the kid had a sense of comfort to draw on.

"You're an idiot," Kaito suddenly declared.

So much for the comfort.

"_Sensei_ says it's a good thing," countered Mako.

"_Sensei_ says it's good to be a fool, not an idiot." Kaito remained firm in his stance, as if he were lecturing a younger boy rather than a friend. "You're an idiot."

Sakura looked up to Shikamaru, who was still guarding the group with Masao, but he offered no contribution to the strange conversation. Sakura wondered briefly what kind of teacher a man like Raiden was, especially if he wanted his students to be fools. But then Sakura felt her own chakra encourage the cells in Mako's bones to knit themselves back together, and she had to concentrate on the job at hand.

Suddenly, a strong gust of wind tunneled its way down the street, battering the buildings and people in its way. Instinctively, Sakura bent over her patient and sheltered Mako's body with her own. Her short hair whipped across her face as she shut her eyes tightly. She heard Mei give a sharp cry that was swallowed up by the wind and wrapped one arm around the smaller girl. The rain blew sideways from the force of the gale; pelting Sakura's back like tiny balls of metal. Then, just as suddenly as it had started, the wind stopped.

Sakura raised her hand and quickly took stock of the situation. A shutter was now lying in the middle of the street, and at least three others hung haphazardly on their hinges. Masao and Shikamaru were still standing, although Shikamaru looked decidedly wary. Mei still had her arms around Mako while Kaito lowered his arms from over his head as he looked to the sky. Sakura noticed that it wasn't raining any more.

"Was that _Kamikaze_?" Mako burst out from his position on the ground.

Sakura glanced at the boy. A divine wind? Did he think that the gods themselves had blown the rain away?

"No," Kaito answered, still gazing up. "_Fuuton: Arashi._ See the clouds?"

His hand rose to point above his head. Sakura followed his instructions and peered at the cloud-covered sky above. Just beyond the limits of the village, the clouds parted in a near-perfect circle that showed the blue sky above the cloud cover.

"_Arashi_?" she wondered aloud. _Fuuton_ would be a Wind-based jutsu, but she had never heard of a ninjutsu, elemental or otherwise, that had the specific effect she saw above her. Sasuke's _Kirin_ was the closest she had seen to something that could change the weather, but it couldn't create the lightning only harness it.

"He's a god of thunder, little missy," Masao replied.

_Raiden_. He was talking about Raiden, Sakura realized. With his name, Sakura had always supposed that Raiden had more connections with Lightning than any other element. The man glanced down the street in either direction, still on guard but not as disturbed as Sakura. Then, Masao looked back to Sakura solemnly.

"When he escorted a supply convoy during the war, he made sure the wagons didn't get rained on once," explained the elderly man. "If they made him leader of Ame no Kuni like they wanted to, we would've had to rename the country."

Sakura's eyes widened at the revelation. Shimada Jun was the leader of Ame no Kuni, and Konoha knew that Raiden had something to do with the man's position. No one ever heard that Raiden himself had been a possible choice for the position of leadership. A glance at her comrade told Sakura that this was news to Shikamaru as well. His eyebrows were drawn together the way they did whenever he was puzzling over something.

"You know he hates it when people bring that up, Masao-jii-san," Mako interjected.

Sakura drew away from the boy to study his face, sullen and cautious. Mako ignored the woman who had healed him as he shot a warning glance toward the older man. Masao just shrugged.

"Good thing he's not here, then," the man responded.

Shui rushed up to the group, sliding in a leftover puddle on the muddy street.

"_Otou-san_, everyone is safe now," he reported. "Hao and Bao have the bunker stabilized. As long as the enemy doesn't use any more _Doton_ jutsu, we'll be fine."

"We'll trust Raiden-sama to take care of us, then." The father nodded then turned his eyes on Sakura. "_Iyrou-nin_, we would appreciate your help with the wounded."

Sakura swallowed back any further questions lingering on her tongue about Raiden and his exact role in Ame's government. They could wait; the wounds could not. Besides, this was why she had come.

"Right." She stood up and hurried down the street, following both Masao and Shui.

A glance over her shoulder proved that both Mei and Kaito were helping Mako to his feet while Shikamaru oversaw the three kids, his eyes still on the sky. Sakura had a feeling Shikamaru would be puzzling over the strange phenomenon in the clouds until he had a theory as to how a jutsu could punch a hole straight through a rainstorm.

**o0O0o**

"Sasuke, wake up."

He didn't want to wake up. His bed was warm, and the Academy was no fun, anyway. Maybe _aniki_ would practice with him instead today.

"Sasuke!"

A pair of large hands gripped his shoulders and shook. Sasuke suddenly registered that his back was wet. He opened his eyes and met with a blank white face with a stripe of red through it.

"_Oi_, you okay, Uchiha?" Raiden demanded.

Sasuke gritted his teeth and pushed himself to sit upright. The wave of vertigo that swept over him, starting from the top of his head and settling in his stomach, made him rest one hand over his stomach. He commanded himself not to be sick all over Raiden's lap. When he felt like he could open his mouth again without spewing the contents of his stomach on the ground, Sasuke looked back at Raiden's masked face.

"What—"

"Morishima Noboru," Raiden interrupted with a jerk of his head.

Sasuke followed the bob of Raiden's head to the point where he had last seen Noboru. The Oto ninja was no longer in sight, and—strangely enough—it had stopped raining as well.

"He likes genjutsu, but he rarely uses chakra for it," Raiden continued explaining as he braced one hand against Sasuke's back. Sasuke wanted to shrug off the hand, but he didn't trust his balance quite yet. Embarrassing himself by falling back into a puddle would be worse than having to rely on someone he didn't want to.

"His specialty is chemicals and poisons. He had a hallucinogen in the air that wasn't water-soluble. It just stayed in the puddles 'cuz the rain wasn't washing it away."

"Poison," repeated Sasuke.

A hallucinogen would explain why he had suddenly seen Orochimaru in Morishima's place—or Naruto in Raiden's for that matter.

"That's what I said," Raiden huffed as if he were offended.

Sasuke drew up his right leg and braced his hand on his knee, willing his body to become strong again. Poison was a volatile weapon even by itself. Even though Sasuke had certain immunities, people could make new poisons with new symptoms or different manifestations. It was such a diverse field that it was hard to guard against. Sasuke shot Raiden a suspicious look.

"How did you avoid it?"

The masked man was obviously well enough to help Sasuke, and it was probably due to him that Morishima was no longer in the area. He might have been very good at hiding his weakness, but Raiden didn't look like a man who was fighting with his ghosts. Raiden cocked his head thoughtfully at Sasuke then raised one hand to tap at the red swirl across his mask.

"I didn't get a mouthful of mud," he answered blandly.

Obviously deciding Sasuke could sit by himself, Raiden rocked back on his heels and stood up swiftly. His coat flapped loosely around his legs, looking halfway dry already now that the sun was shining. Sasuke planted his hands on the ground and shifted to his knees.

"Raiden-sama."

Sasuke looked up suddenly at the cool, calm voice. Morishima Noboru had reappeared next to the start of the canyon that led to Hafuko's edge. His raincoat was thrown back to expose his arms. Sasuke saw a long scratch down his right forearm, and on his forehead was a large gash that bled slowly into his left eye.

"And, whaddaya know, you're still here."

Raiden didn't sound all too surprised to see the enemy back from wherever he had disappeared to. Sasuke ignored the dizziness in his head that had retreated to a pounding ache in his temples and pulled one leg underneath him. With his left foot on the ground and his right knee sunk into the mud, Sasuke poised ready to face Noboru with his modified Sharingan if it was needed.

"I gave you my answer, _yarou_," Raiden growled. "No way in hell."

"Orochimaru-sama would pay well," drawled Noboru, as if he were actually bored with the proceedings.

Raiden's hands clenched into fists again.

"I got another offer," answered the mask. "I'm working for Konoha."

Sasuke's eyes didn't leave Noboru—he didn't trust his surroundings enough to let his guard down. But his Sharingan snapped into existence with a spike of chakra, and Sasuke saw Raiden's unchanging form. Was he just saying that to get rid of his enemy?

"I see," Noboru responded politely. "You hate Orochimaru-sama very much, don't you?"

Sasuke knew he was being ignored and tried not to let it rankle him. Noboru might have thought Sasuke was too injured to do anything dangerous, or he might think Raiden was more worthy of his attention. Either way, Sasuke felt less inclined to interrupt the private conversation in front of him. Raiden waved his right hand lazily through the air in a way that almost reminded Sasuke of Shikamaru.

"Don't take it too bad, Noboru," commanded Raiden. "I hate your stinking guts, too."

With a sudden flick of his wrist, Raiden held a sharp kunai like nothing a typical Ame-nin would use.

"Now get the fuck out of here before I decide you're worth killing."

Raiden's voice was suddenly cold and hateful, as if someone had thrown a switch on the man's personality. Noboru seemed to recognize that he had pushed too far. He executed a slight incline of his head that _might_ have been a bow. Sasuke didn't really want to contemplate why Raiden had an underling of Orochimaru bowing at him. But then, Noboru made the signs for a _Shunshin no Jutsu_ as the brown-gray puddles at his feet flared up and covered him briefly in water before he disappeared completely.

Raiden let out a breath that Sasuke heard easily now that the sky was clear of the pattering of rain. Sasuke turned his eyes fully onto Raiden and felt the chakra seep from his eyes as the Sharingan deactivated. He wished he could have kept up the _doujutsu_, but it was too tiring while his body was still purging itself of Noboru's poison.

"You said no," Sasuke said, low and accusing.

Raiden's blank face looked down at Sasuke.

"Huh?" came the eloquent response.

"You refused to come to Konoha," Sasuke reminded the man through gritted teeth.

Raiden continued to stare at Sasuke, and Sasuke once again cursed the mask on the man's face. Even without the Sharingan, he could tell a person's mood by watching them. He had spent enough years simply _looking_ at the village of Konoha to learn the tricks every human used to keep his distance from others. But then, the unchanging white face looked over Sasuke's head to the village, which remained slightly ruined from the attack.

"Changed my mind," Raiden answered shortly.

Sasuke ground his teeth together and pushed himself to his feet abruptly. But before he could call Raiden on the non-existent bluff, Raiden spoke again.

"I miss the trees."

Sasuke paused long enough for Raiden to start walking toward Hafuko. He _missed_ the trees? Sasuke knew that the village of Konoha had practically no information on Raiden except what Sasuke himself had brought back from Ta no Kuni and the alleged rumor that Raiden had killed the leader of Akatsuki. But, Raiden had just implied that he knew Konoha—or at least the geography of Hi no Kuni enough to know what the trees looked like.

Raiden's mask looked over the man's shoulder at Sasuke.

"Meet ya at the gates, Uchiha," Raiden called in that voice that conveyed a smile beneath his mask.

Then, before Sasuke could make a move to stop him, Raiden leaped from the ground onto the top of the fence surrounding Hafuko and from there into the village, using any flat surface as a jumping point. As he watched the man leave, Sasuke clenched his jaw so hard it reawakened his headache. To hell with recruiting extra muscle against Orochimaru. This man was going to be more annoying than that time when Sasuke had to work with three different Inuzuka.

* * *

A/N: A new chapter! Packed with action!

Well, maybe not, but this does have a _lot _of jutsu names compared to pretty much anything else I've written thus far. Among them are a couple of my own original ones; see below for details. I tried to keep them as scientific and logical as I could, but if one of you says technically it's not possible— Well, I am in charge here, and I say it is.

Mentioning a couple points that came up in reviews—I know one chapter a month isn't very condusive to lengthy periods of excited reading, but it is necessary for my sanity. I would rather keep regularly on track with one chapter a month than promise two or three chapters a month and end up disappointing people when I'm not able to meet the goal.

Also, one person asked what the joke was with Yu's name. I have taken a _little_ bit of leeway with Kishimoto's world. Based on the fact that there are some physical differences in the people of the Elemental Countries (Kumo is the only place with dark-skinned people, and Suna has hardly any dark-haired people), I expanded it to include names as well. About half of the characters I wrote specifically for Ame have Chinese names instead of Japanese—or Chinese names that are also found in Japanese. Yu is from the Chinese for rain, hence the ironic humor.

And the quote in italics comes from chapter 134 of Naruto, when he and Sasuke are fighting Gaara to rescue Sakura.

I think that's about all I wanted to say. Enjoy the chapter, and I'll see ya next month!

Sincerely,

Fia

_Chidori Eisou_ – Thousand Birds Sharp Spear; basically the Chidori (Lightning-based assassination technique) formed to extend into a spear that keeps the cutting characters of its original state.

_Doton: Retsudo Tenshou_ – Revolving Split Earth Palm; a C-ranked Earth jutsu that allows the ninja to churn and twist up any rock he infuses with the necessary chakra after the hand signs. Most famously used in Team Yondaime's mission where Obito gets crushed.

_Fuuton: Arashi_ – Wind Style: Hurricane; this is an original jutsu that I made up, but hopefully it makes sense. Based off the way a real hurricane forms, the caster gathers two areas of high pressured air, one in each palm, then forces the two air masses away from himself in opposite directions. The result is a cyclone of low pressure that blows air outwards from its center, thus the hole in the clouds.

_Gatsuuga – _Dual Piercing Fang; Kiba's move in conjunction with Akamaru, Using this chance the fast rotating of the two attackers will cause a damaging impact on their opponent when they connect with their claws.

_Juujin Bunshin_ – Beast-Man Clone; an Inuzuka clan specialty. Acting in conjunction with the clan member, the canine familiar will transform itself into a copy of the clan member. While in this form they can accomplish many of the same techniques as the original, like _Gatsuuga_.

_Shunshin no Jutsu – _Body Flicker Technique; a basic transportation technique that allows a shinobi to appear or disappear in an instant. Often, surrounding elements like sand or leaves (or water) can be used to help mask any of the shinobi's movement.


	4. In Which He Speaks

Chapter 3: In Which He Speaks

_Man is least himself when he talks in his own person. Give him a mask and he will tell you the truth._

~ Oscar Wilde

**o0O0o**

Michi watched the remnants of Oto's attack flee across the flat landscape of Ame, following a dark-haired man with a long tan coat. Those who were still capable of running by themselves carried the wounded and even the dead bodies back with them. Michi grimaced even though he understood; Oto needed to keep their own secrets the same way Ame did with theirs.

"They're gone!" someone shouted from the crowd of Hafuko warriors.

Michi looked over his troops. Only about a third of them actually had shinobi training, and none were quite as skilled as he was. Most of them had been taught basic skills by the older generation, and even that was limited to throwing _senbon_ and blocking an opponent's jutsu with a simple C-ranked defense. Still, very few of them were seriously wounded, and no one had given their lives.

A sudden movement made Michi turn his attention to the village instead of the retreating enemy. Visible as always in his red coat, Raiden leaped from a near building and landed in the middle of the battlefield. Immediately, the rancorous celebrations of the crowd quieted down to still murmurs. Even the Konoha ninja with his giant _ninken_ seemed to grasp the importance of the new arrival and stopped teasing Takehiko and his friend, Hakota, to watch Raiden stride forward.

"I guess they took off," Raiden commented under his breath.

His voice was slightly muffled behind his mask, but Michi had some practice in reading the man.

"Yes," he answered. "They retreated when their boss appeared."

Michi waved one hand toward the northwest edge of town, where the man in the tan coat had first appeared. Raiden's eyes followed his gesture to the edge of town then slowly traveled back. Michi saw the white mask pause when it faced the Konoha ninja, who was standing with one hand buried in the scuff of the dog beside him. But then, Raiden faced back to the east, where the Oto shinobi had disappeared, and hummed quietly.

"What did they want?" Michi asked.

Oto wasn't interested in Ame. No one had been since the civil war. But Michi knew some of the history that Raiden had with that hidden village.

"Something they'll never get," grunted Raiden. "Like always."

Michi frowned at Raiden's masked face. The man had a bad habit of never relying on anyone, and Michi was one of the few in the village who actually knew how _young _Raiden was. Suddenly, Raiden turned back to the village and started walking.

"Where are you going?"

Raiden rarely left the battlefield so calmly. And there was something about the set of his shoulders that worried Michi.

"To pack," answered Raiden bluntly. "I'm going to Konoha."

"Konoha?" Michi repeated. "After they—"

Raiden looked back to Michi suddenly. His white mask hid every hint of his skin, but Michi still stopped short.

"I heard that, _O-jiji_," muttered the Konoha ninja.

Michi didn't look at the young man with his dog. It was true that he didn't know exactly what had transpired between Raiden and the village of Konoha. Only that Raiden had said he couldn't ever enter that village again. The young man had looked so devastated when he had explained that to Michi that Michi understood what was left unsaid. A man longed for home even more when he was in exile.

"I never wanted to bring my enemies here." Raiden walked back to stand in front of Michi. "I'm sorry."

"No," Michi replied immediately. "It's—"

"It's better if I go now that they know I've been here."

Michi glanced at Raiden's mask and cursed its existence. He wished the man would remove the stupid mask and let Michi actually see him, even if Michi was pretty sure of what his smile looked like beneath it. But the Konoha nin was still present, and Raiden was always cautious about his appearance even among the villagers.

"You know you will always be welcomed in Ame." Michi willed the man to believe him, to hear what he didn't dare say aloud. "Even here."

If Raiden ever needed refuge from a place that hated him, Hafuko would oblige.

"Yeah," the masked man acknowledged softly.

Raiden turned away and started trekking back toward the town. As Michi watched, Masao-san dashed out of the gates with a boy on his back. Kaito followed, dragging Mei by her hand, as one of the Konoha nin, the dark-haired leader, made up the rear of the party.

"Aw, we missed the fight?" Masao drawled.

"Mako!" Raiden ground out, his voice sounding harsh behind the ceramic mask.

Michi hurried forward as well, catching sight of Raiden's light-haired student propped on Masao's back.

"Ah, kid scraped his leg up a bit." Masao cast a glance over his shoulder at the repentant boy. "Haruno-san fixed it up. She's still working on everyone at the bunker, but they'll all be okay, too, Raiden-sama."

Mako muttered something into the old man's ear, and Masao lowered him to the ground. As soon as Mako was planted on his own feet, he stood up straight in front of the pillar that Raiden had become. The white face kept staring down at the boy. Michi wondered how the kid was able to stand such an intense perusal from a face that never changed, but then again Mako had come to Hafuko _with _Raiden in the beginning. However, the boy's brave stance faltered for a moment when his left knee buckled. Suddenly, Raiden stooped down and wrapped both his arms around Mako's waist. Straightening again, Raiden slung Mako over his shoulder like a large sack of rice.

"Hey!" protested Mako loudly. "Stupid _sensei_! Put me down!"

Raiden turned instead to the leader of the Konoha team.

"You might want to find your Uchiha," he commanded, ignoring the fists Mako was pounding into his back. "He got poisoned in the fight. Wait here."

"Wait for what?" questioned Nara.

"You're the one who asked what it would take, Nara." Raiden turned his back on the crowd and strode into the village.

"I'll come along," Nara declared instead. "Kiba! Go find Sasuke and make sure he gets to Sakura."

"_Hai_," barked the fang-marked ninja, and he took off for the west.

"Put me down!" Mako shouted again.

With Nara already following Raiden into town, Kaito followed after his _sensei_ and the ninja, leading Mei by the hand. Michi watched the strange line march down the street and turn for Genkei's carpentry shop.

"Are you sure he'll be all right?" Masao nodded towards the departing party with his eyebrows knitted together.

Actually, Michi wasn't sure what was going on inside Raiden's mind, but he knew the man wouldn't tell him even if he asked. Raiden guarded his secrets fervently. But, the others needed some comfort, some reassurance in their hero.

"I think he'll make sure of it," Michi answered, hoping he was telling the truth.

**o0O0o**

Mako stopped trying to beat on his _sensei_'s back right after they turned a sharp corner that hid them from the eyes of the fighters just outside the gate. Nara was still staring at him with curious eyes, but he didn't really matter. Mako just kept quiet as _s__ensei_ carried him through the streets and back into the furniture store where they lived.

He strode into the back room where they all slept and dumped Mako onto the soft futon. His leg twinged a bit, but it didn't hurt nearly so much now that Sakura-san had looked at it. Kaito and Mei followed _sensei_ in the room while Nara stood in the doorway, overseeing the strange group.

"What were you doing?" demanded _sensei_ as he crossed his arms and loomed over Mako. "You were supposed to be at the bunker."

"We _were _at the bunker," Kaito was quick to protest. "We just got sidetracked."

Dark eyes quickly flitted over to Mei, who still held tightly to Kaito's hand. Mako sat up straight and took up the defense himself. He wouldn't be the one to explain to _sensei_ what had sidetracked them. In Ame, it was shameful to be afraid of thunderstorms; it was just another form of rain.

"Yeah." Mako pushed himself to his knees on the unrolled futon. "Besides, if we had been inside, we woulda been smushed."

The way Raiden's mask stared down at Mako made the boy think maybe his argument wasn't all that inspiring. Then _sensei_ suddenly turned his back on the boy in bed and stalked over to the _tansu_ at the far wall. He stooped to open it and dragged out a couple of shirts that Mako knew the man had had since Mako found him. _Sensei_ marched back to the futon and threw the shirts beside Mako then turned back to the storage chest.

"What are you doing?" Mako asked, genuinely curious.

"Packing," Raiden answered shortly. He pulled out a longer coat, one meant for snow and cold temperatures, and draped it over the lid of the _tansu_. "I'm going to Konoha."

"What?" cried Kaito.

"Now?" Mako's eyebrows disappeared into his light hair.

He kinda suspected that this might happen. _Sensei_ had never been _really_ happy anywhere that wasn't home, but it was kinda a rule that he didn't go to Konoha. Heck, Raiden barely put in any appearances within Hi no Kuni. The masked man turned around with another piece of clothing in one hand and a small pack that contained a stack of small, identical scrolls in the other.

"They want me to kill Orochimaru," he announced and tossed his items onto the futon. "Can't really say no to that."

Mako wondered if _sensei_ was being cold just because Nara was still hanging around the doorway, but then he decided it didn't matter.

"Cool," the boy declared. "When do we leave?"

Raiden looked at Mako. The boy could pretty much guess at the look _sensei_ was giving him behind that stupid mask. Whenever _sensei_ turned his head slowly like that, he always looked like he didn't believe a word of what he was hearing.

"We?" Raiden repeated.

"C'mon, you're not leavin' us behind, _sensei_." Mako just grinned back at the mask.

"I don't want you to—"

"You can't leave us," interrupted Kaito.

Mako's eyes snapped over to where Kaito stood. The dark boy had released Mei's hand in order to wrap his fingers around the left side of his neck. His eyes were fixed on _sensei_, hot and demanding.

"You're the only one who can—"

"I told you, Kaito," _sensei_ interrupted this time, "there's nothing more I can do."

Mako glanced at Kaito to gage his friend's reaction. Neither Kaito nor _sensei_ had ever explained things fully. Only that they were bad. Mei stared at _sensei_ and grabbed Kaito's hand again.

_ "Sensei_," she called quietly, "we don't have anywhere else to go."

Mako saw Raiden's shoulders slump from their tension and recognized their victory.

"Aw, he's not gonna leave us behind." Mako smiled genuinely. "We're family."

Raiden sighed and leaned over the futon.

"Mako," he called warningly.

Mako's smile faltered a bit as the man's masked face hovered just beside Mako's ear. One of Raiden's hands came to rest on the boy's shoulder. It felt heavy.

"So are they," whispered _sensei_ in Mako's ear.

Mako leaned back slowly to look at _sensei_'s face before he remembered that _sensei _was wearing Raiden's mask, so it didn't really matter what Mako saw. But the way _sensei_'s hand tapped Mako's shoulder was reassuring in and of itself.

"Get packing," Raiden ordered.

"Ha," Mako crowed triumphantly and vaulted off the futon for the _tansu_.

He knelt in front of the chest, joined at once by Kaito and Mei. Each of them had a pile of clothes in the trunk, as well as a few things at the bottom. _Sensei'_s stuff never took up much room.

"Hey, get my scroll while you're in there," _sensei_ ordered.

Mako reached into the _tansu _up to his elbows and heaved out a large scroll that came up to his chest and was as thick as Mei was. Kaito stopped pulling out his clothes to take the opposite end of the large scroll, and together they hauled it to the futon. Still covered in dust from disuse, the scroll sent out a plume of dust as Kaito and Mako let it drop on the bed.

"You gotta clean more, _sensei_," Mako reprimanded the man as he coughed into his sleeve.

_Sensei_ didn't say anything, just huffed quietly in what could have been a laugh. It was kinda hard to tell with the mask. Then Raiden knelt down beside the bed and started rolling his clothes and tucking them away in a mid-sized pack that could roll up like cloth. Suddenly, he looked up at the one stranger in the room.

"You coulda waited at the gate, y'know," Raiden informed Nara.

Nara leaned one shoulder against the door jam with his hands in his pockets.

"What made you change your mind?" Nara asked instead.

_Sensei_'s head turned to the kids still digging through the _tansu_. Mako looked worriedly back at the man, but _sensei_ didn't seem to notice it. He only looked back at Nara.

"I take care of my family."

Mako ducked his head and kept packing, not entirely comforted by _sensei_'s words. He didn't know if _sensei_ meant the family that Mako was part of now or the family that _sensei_ never talked about.

**o0O0o**

"Bring her over here," Sakura commanded a young man who had an older woman's arm slung around his shoulders as he helped her walk.

Sakura wasn't sure where the canvas cots had come from—maybe from the innards of the bunker people were still crawling out of—but she was glad the brothers, Hao and Bao, had found them. At least she didn't have to treat her patients on the ground.

The young man helped the woman to sit down as Sakura swung the bony legs to rest on the cot. Carefully she probed at the woman's right ankle.

"Does this hurt?" she questioned professionally.

The woman's flinch was her answer.

"Is she going to be all right?" the young man asked anxiously.

"She'll be fine." Sakura smiled up at him reassuringly and started soothing the woman's twisted ankle.

While the young man knelt down beside the woman—his mother, perhaps—Sakura concentrated on healing the woman's swollen tendons and ligaments. A wrinkled hand on top of her gloved one stopped her abruptly.

"He was right about you," commented the matronly figure on the cot.

"Who was?" Sakura frowned at her.

"Raiden-sama," she answered. "He told us all shinobi are still human, even if they forget it sometimes."

Sakura stared at the old woman, more shocked by Genkei's words coming from her mouth than her sweet smile at Sakura. Sakura had been taught bedside manners: how to properly encourage her patients and keep them happy and hopeful. But this woman acted like she wanted to comfort Sakura instead.

"_Oi_, Sakura!"

Sakura turned around quickly and saw Kiba and Akamaru rushing into the middle of the rescue effort. Kiba was perched on his usual spot on Akamaru's back, but he kept his arms wrapped around the dark figure that straddled Akamaru in front of Kiba.

"Sasuke!" Sakura cried in realization.

She turned back to the young man hovering over the woman.

"Keep ice on the ankle to keep it from swelling," she instructed. "She'll be fine in a day or two."

Sakura hurried over to Kiba, confident that her words as a med-nin would be taken seriously. She wrapped her arms around Sasuke's torso and helped him slide off the giant dog's back. It was a testament to how hurt he was that he didn't even shrug off her grasp.

"He got poisoned in the fight," Kiba explained as he swung one leg over Akamaru's back.

Sakura grimaced as she sat Sasuke on a spare cot. She knew how much Sasuke disliked chemicals or other things that affected his performance. She wasn't sure if he had always been like that or it was a leftover paranoia from his time with Orochimaru or the curse seal that had plagued him for three years.

"Shirt off," she commanded shortly.

Sasuke grunted as he shrugged off the raincoat and the jounin vest he wore. Impatient, Sakura hooked her fingers under the hem of the damp shirt he wore and peeled it over his head as he raised his arms. Pulling off her gloves as soon as she could, Sakura laid her hands across his chest and spread her green-colored chakra into Sasuke's circulatory system, searching for the foreign substance that was making him sweat and grit his teeth.

"Got it," she crowed triumphantly after a few moments.

With her hands still glowing, Sakura extracted the poison through the pores of Sasuke's skin. The bulbous mass of liquid that Sakura held just above her palm, levitated by a layer of chakra coating her skin, was a deep red color that clashed with her chakra. Sakura gently slipped the poison into a glass vial from her medical kit and turned back to Sasuke.

"If I'm going to make an antidote, we need to stay here another day," Sakura informed Kiba.

"No," growled Sasuke, still sitting up.

"Sasuke," Sakura called warningly.

"The effects have already passed." Sasuke pushed Sakura's bare hand away from his chest. "My body will burn away the rest."

"What effects?" she demanded.

For a moment, Sasuke looked like he would refuse to answer, but Sakura glared at him. She had once threatened to knock him over the head if he refused to be admitted to the hospital in Konoha for a broken arm. And then she followed through on her threat—_with_ a chakra-enhanced punch. Sasuke was typically fairly obedient when it came to getting checked out after that; although sometimes Sakura still had to exert her authority.

"Sasuke, what were the effects?" she repeated.

"It was a hallucinogen," Sasuke finally huffed. "I wasn't expecting it."

Sakura knitted her eyebrows together and tried to determine if Sasuke was telling the whole truth. A hallucinogen usually didn't last very long unless a body was continually exposed to the chemical, so Sasuke had probably stopped seeing visions that weren't there. Still, Sakura felt the need to wave a finger right in Sasuke's face.

"If I think you're lying, I'm gonna knock you out and have Kiba carry you," threatened Sakura.

"What?" barked Kiba.

Sakura saw a tic in Sasuke's jaw, but he didn't protest or test her threat.

"Just leave it," he commanded as he pushed himself to his feet. "We need to get to the gate in front of the village."

"Why?" Sakura thought Sasuke was in a hurry for how sickly he looked recently. But at least his face didn't look quite so pale anymore.

"Raiden said he was going to Konoha," Kiba answered in a subdued voice.

Sakura threw a quick look at Kiba before she faced Sasuke again.

"He said yes?" If so, their mission was complete, and they now had a great enemy of Orochimaru's on their side.

"No," murmured Sasuke. "He just changed his mind."

Sakura frowned, puzzled with the explanation. But then Sasuke started walking down the street, ignoring the crowd around him as well as his teammates.

"Are you done here, Sakura?" Kiba asked, scanning the mess of patients and people helping.

Sakura bit her lip as she looked around. Most of the people who had crawled out of the ruined bunker had minor injuries, and those who were well enough to help were applying basic first aid to some of the patients.

"_Iryou-nin_ Haruno."

Sakura turned toward the one calling her name, the elder of the Hao and Bao brothers. She couldn't remember which was which.

"We'll be fine here," said the teenager. "Thank you for all you've done for us."

The boy executed a short but polite bow. Sakura smiled and nodded back at him. These people of Hafuko weren't enemies, and they weren't really all that different from the people of Konoha back home. Just people trying to get by on their own.

"You're welcome," Sakura replied honestly.

Then, she turned to Kiba and nodded in the direction that Sasuke had left.

"We need to go," she announced.

"Yeah," Kiba scoffed and laid one hand across Akamaru's back. "Before Uchiha-teme decides to kill off our new employee."

**o0O0o**

Sasuke reached the eastern gate of Hafuko about the same time as Shikamaru marched up with Raiden following behind. Raiden had a simple canvas pack slung over his back while a large scroll rested on his back, supported by a thick strap across his chest. Behind Raiden, Mako followed with a small backpack over his shoulders, and two more kids, both with dark hair and eyes, brought up the rear.

Shikamaru approached the grocer, Michi, as the people of Hafuko worked behind him to bring the injured back into the village.

"We'll be going now," announced Shikamaru.

"Good riddance," Michi muttered at the Konoha _jounin_, but he was smiling as he grumbled.

Sasuke heard a scoff and watched Sakura and Kiba walk up to complete the Konoha team. Sakura was still frowning at him, but Sasuke paid no attention. His body was already recovering; he wasn't dizzy anymore. The removal of the last traces of the hallucinogen made it easier to stand and breathe without feeling like he was drowning in mud.

"I'm taking them along, Michi." Raiden jerked one thumb over his shoulder at the kids following behind him.

"I wouldn't expect anything else, Raiden-sama." Michi nodded.

"Wait," Kiba protested suddenly. "Now we got brats, too?"

Raiden turned his mask to face the Inuzuka.

"The brats come with me," he declared. "Deal with it."

Kiba's face, already stained with red fangs, grew hot with the force of his annoyed glare. But Raiden just turned to Shikamaru instead.

"I want to get to Konoha in three days," Raiden announced.

Shikamaru's eyebrows lifted, but he showed no other signs of being surprised.

"That'll be pushing it with so many." The _jounin_ glanced down at the three kids behind Raiden.

Raiden tilted his head to one side and followed Shikamaru's eyes to the brats.

"Mako, can you run?" he asked.

"'Course, _sensei_." The oldest boy nodded vigorously.

"Kaito, you'll carry Mei."

"_Hai_."

Sasuke watched the kids rearrange themselves obediently, with the girl perched on the dark boy's back, her arms around his neck. Mako shouldered Kaito's backpack in addition to his own and stood at Raiden's side, apparently ready for anything.

"Take care, Raiden-sama," Michi gave one last farewell.

"Quit it with the _-sama_ already," Raiden grumbled.

Michi only smiled widely.

"Then, _sayonara_, Genkei."

Michi held out his hand to the man. Raiden paused for a moment then clasped Michi's hand in his own.

"Thanks for letting me stay so long, Michi," Raiden said as he shook the older man's hand.

"Bye, Michi-san," called Mei from Kaito's back.

"Yeah, thanks." Mako lifted one hand in a lazy wave.

"So, _now_ we're ready?" huffed Kiba.

Raiden released Michi's hand and looked at Kiba.

"If you are," he replied easily.

"Let's go," Shikamaru ordered.

Sasuke nodded and pushed off the ground in a sprint, aided by the steady stream of chakra pumping through his legs. Sakura drew level with him, most probably to keep an eye on his continued health. Sometimes, Sakura was still annoying. Sasuke glanced over his shoulder to the rest of the team. Shikamaru and Kiba, riding Akamaru as usual, made up the rear, leaving Raiden in the middle, keeping pace with his two students. Both the boys were running pretty well considering their burdens. Kaito carried a young girl on his back, and Mako bore two backpacks as well as a slight limp in his left leg.

Sasuke faced forward again and concentrated on the landscape. The mission was half-over already, and he couldn't change the outcome. He would simply deal with this new development and find a way to keep the only promise he ever made.

**o0O0o**

Kiba was a morning person. He liked taking advantage of the early hours to get outside with Akamaru whenever he could, either for training or a simple bit of roughhousing. However, this morning was a bit difficult, even for him.

"Kiba, go find Raiden and tell him we're leaving," ordered Shikamaru.

Kiba started muttering curses under his breath, but he obeyed his _taichou_. Sakura and Sasuke were already up and packing their own bundles, although Sakura grimaced as she chewed on a soldier pill. According to Raiden's wishes, the team pushed themselves all day yesterday until they crossed the border from Ame no Kuni into Hi no Kuni. The guy had said that he wanted to get out of the country before Oto changed their minds, but Kiba was still tired from yesterday's skirmish outside Hafuko and then the race into Hi no Kuni. He couldn't find it in himself to be charitable to the great Raiden.

Kiba yawned and rounded another tree. One good thing about reaching Hi no Kuni was that they were starting to see more trees. The landscape, while not constantly drenched with rain anymore, was still flat and grassy, like a plain with a few scattered trees rather than the familiar dense forests that surrounded Konoha. Kiba scanned the thin, grassy landscape again and found what he was looking for.

Raiden was sitting under a tree with his back stick straight, pressed against the bark. He hadn't changed out of his red coat and white mask, and it looked like he hadn't slept, either. He just sat there, cross-legged, with his hands in front of him, knuckles pressed together with his fingertips barely touching each other and pointing upwards. Kiba frowned and started forward.

"_Oi_, Raiden," he called and nearly growled when the man didn't answer immediately. "Hello?"

"He's balancing," interjected a young voice to Kiba's right.

Kiba turned to face the oldest of Raiden's brats, Mako. This one never seemed to care much about who he addressed or how. Kiba felt a _little_ bit of kinship with the boy in that regard, but only in that. For the rest, Mako was the student—if not an outright spawn—of an S-ranked nin, and that could mean a number of things.

But first, Kiba had to get the guy to start moving. He looked like he was meditating, and Kiba wasn't sure how that equated to balancing.

"Balancing what?" Kiba demanded.

"That's what he calls it." Mako only shrugged and straightened the collar of his_ yukata_._ "_He's pretty much dead to the world, so he doesn't even notice the things right next to him until he gets out of it."

_Oh, really? _Kiba slowly studied Raiden's unmoving form as an evil idea trickled into his mind. He saw Mako turn and slouch away, which worked perfectly for Kiba. He snuck up toward the unmoving man, careful not to let his feet make a sound on the grassy undergrowth. He was three meters away from Raiden now, and the man still hadn't moved. Kiba knew better than to jump him. A sleeping enemy could mistake even a tap for an attack, but no one said anything about whistling. Kiba placed two fingers in his mouth.

"Don't even try, dog-breath," muttered Raiden, still holding his statue-like pose.

"What the—"

Kiba nearly jumped back at the surprise voice. Then he growled; he should know better than to try to sneak up on a man with a mask.

"I could feel you coming from a kilometer out." Raiden's face turned up to Kiba.

Kiba huffed and straightened from his sneaky pose. Before he could defend himself, Raiden separated his hands and rubbed his palms across his knees.

"Who told you it would be a good idea to sneak up on me?" Raiden demanded.

Kiba glanced over his shoulder and wondered if he should tell. The kid might have mentioned something, but Kiba was the one who wanted to pull a prank. Then, Raiden turned his head to one of the trees that sat sparsely among the plateau.

"Mako," he called.

Kiba followed Raiden's gaze and saw a light-haired boy peek out from behind a trunk. He was smiling sheepishly.

"How'd you know it was me?" asked the boy.

"_Kouzu_, I knew were there from the beginning." Raiden tapped on the front of his mask, just above the red swirl. "Besides, Kaito would've looked smug about it."

"We're ready to go," Kiba interjected. Much as a part of him liked this banter back and forth between the man and the boy, the greater part of him was too embarrassed at getting caught pulling off such a stupid prank to fully appreciate the camaraderie between them.

"Right." Raiden nodded solemnly then looked back to his student. "Where're Kaito and Mei-chan?"

"Still by the camp." Mako kept his hands in his pockets and lifted his chin in the direction Kiba had come from. "They're awake, though."

"How's your leg?"

"It's fine, _sensei_."

Kiba looked between the two and had to admit that for all the teasing and camaraderie, it was clear that Mako respected the man he called his teacher. Raiden's white face looked to the north then back to Mako and Kiba.

"All right, let's go."

Kiba let Raiden pass by him and discreetly inhaled as the man's body passed him. Raiden smelled like damp cloth, dried mud, and something else under it all that Kiba couldn't quite place. It was familiar—something that reminded him of the harsh thunderstorms of Konoha rather than the steady rain of Ame.

"Comin', dog-breath?" Raiden demanded with his back to Kiba.

Kiba bared his teeth at the masked man, despite knowing Raiden wouldn't see him. But he followed anyway, wondering why Raiden's scent felt familiar to him.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru watched Sasuke tense up as Raiden approached the campsite with Mako and Kiba and wished he had a cigarette. Sasuke's obvious dislike of their new recruit was problematic. His face was tight as he stooped down to pick up the small Konoha-issued pack with his supplies.

"Let's go," Sasuke commanded.

"Not yet, Uchiha," Raiden countered immediately.

Sasuke's head snapped over to stare at the white and red mask with such force that Shikamaru was surprised his _doujutsu_ didn't activate. However, Raiden didn't seem perturbed at all. He only marched to where Kaito and Mei sat beneath a round tree. Both kids were awake, but Mei was scrubbing her fist across scrunched up eyes in protest of being woken so early after such a late night. Raiden knelt next to the kids and dug around in his own pack.

"It's still two days to Konoha," Raiden reminded his audience, "and I'm not feeding them trail rations the whole way."

He straightened again, shoving something into his pocket as he did.

"There's a town near the border, just that way." Raiden gestured toward the north. "We'll be back soon."

"We?" Shikamaru repeated.

For a reply, Raiden raised his empty hands into a simple hand sign just below his chin. A cloud of smoke suddenly encased his body for a moment then dissipated slowly. The figure that emerged was the same height as Raiden and had the same color hair as Genkei, the old carpenter in Hafuko. But the face looked much younger than Genkei's had. Maybe that of a thirty-year-old, Shikamaru thought, but certainly no younger than that.

"_Otou-san_!" Mei cried happily and lifted her arms up to the new face.

Shikamaru blinked in surprise and glanced over the man quickly. If this was Raiden's true face, then the three kids could very well be his own children—or at least Mei could—which changed the demographic a bit. But even Raiden's clothes were different: plain pants and a light shirt with a dark blue vest over it. And for the final argument, Sasuke's eyes were a deep red as his Sharingan attempted to pierce through Raiden's disguise.

Raiden ignored both Sasuke's red eyes and the sudden tension emanating from Sakura and Kiba on the other side of the dead fire as he grabbed Mei's hands and pulled her up to sit on his hip like a child.

"You want to get some _yakitori_, Mei-chan?" the dark-haired man asked jovially.

"_Hai_." Mei just grinned so widely that her cheeks stretched out smoothly.

"You're not going anywhere alone," Sasuke interjected as he strode up to Raiden's face.

Raiden frowned back at Sasuke, although his expression was more annoyed than angry.

"What're you gonna be, her cranky uncle?" demanded Raiden. "Or are we a more unconventional family?"

Raiden grinned and wiggled his eyebrows at Sasuke. Shikamaru saw the exact moment that Sasuke realized what the other man was implying. He had never seen the Uchiha back away so fast from someone who wasn't an enemy before.

"_Ano, Otou-san_?" Mei tugged on Raiden's dark vest and leaned up to his ear. "Can Sakura-hime come instead?"

Raiden's smile abruptly dropped off his face. He looked at Sakura with a blank expression that was almost solemn. Sakura responded with a flinch and drew one shoulder back in an innate protective motion.

"Ask her," Raiden commanded quietly.

He lowered Mei to the ground with both hands. The young girl darted over to Sakura with excitement written all over her face.

"Sakura-hime, will you come with us?" Mei demanded, gazing up at Sakura in blatant adoration. "Do you like _yakitori_?"

"Sure," Sakura answered after a pause.

Mei jumped up and clapped her hands together excitedly.

Sakura cast an apologetic glance at Sasuke.

"It's less conspicuous this way, Sasuke," she explained.

Shikamaru watched Sasuke's face remain unchanged. People always said the Uchiha had no emotions, but Shikamaru had learned to read people's tics. And Sasuke only clenched his jaw like that when he was annoyed. He finally turned away from Sakura, however, and stared at the dead fire.

"Fine," muttered Sasuke.

"So gracious," drawled Raiden with his paternal face. "Kaito, you're coming, too."

He tossed the final command in the general direction of the boy beneath the tree. Kaito got to his feet quickly, picking up his backpack as he stood.

"_Hai, Otou-san_."

"What am I, chopped sushi?" demanded Mako from his place beside Kiba.

Shikamaru's eyes darted from the kid and back to Raiden just in time to see the man wink at the boy.

"Keep an eye on the ninja, Mako," Raiden ordered in a teasing tone. "I got a feeling they need supervision."

Shikamaru made certain his curiosity didn't show in his eyes even as he watched Raiden depart with Mei and Kaito holding each of his hands. If Shikamaru hadn't seen the man perform the Henge himself, he would say that Raiden was simply a man taking his kids to the market. Kiba's gaze tracked Raiden's back until the man was no longer in sight. Then, he marched up to Shikamaru and leaned in to his commander.

"There's something weird about him," Kiba declared, keeping his eyes in the direction of Raiden's back.

**o0O0o**

Sakura watched Mei bow deeply to the lady behind the simple wooden booth with her grill, who was turning the skewered chicken slowly.

"_Domo arigatou __gozaimasu_," Mei said quickly and took the proffered stick.

The lady smiled back as Raiden fished around his pocket and withdrew a few coins.

"Your daughter is very polite," the lady informed the man proudly.

"Ah, thank you very much." Raiden bowed back at the lady.

Transaction completed, Raiden took Mei's hand again and kept walking down the street. Kaito followed behind Sakura at a distance, studying the vendors and stores on either side of him as he walked. Mei pointed at something ahead of her and then raced forward in delight, but Sakura didn't catch what she was so excited about.

Sakura drew up alongside Raiden and glanced at him from the corner of her eye. His face was generally smooth, except for two deep laugh lines at the corners of his mouth. But a few gray strands laced through the black at his temples, making him look older.

"Something on my face, Sakura-chan?" Raiden suddenly demanded.

Sakura faced him directly and frowned. Raiden only watched Mei in front of him, ignoring Sakura's annoyance at being found out so easily.

"How old are you?" she asked, mostly to focus the attention back onto him.

"Older than I act," replied the man, "or so people tell me."

Sakura just scoffed and rolled her eyes.

"That wouldn't be hard."

She wondered if dealing with Raiden would always be like this: dealing with a mask instead of a man.

"Twenty."

Sakura looked back at Raiden and found a pair of dark eyes staring back at her. No eyes had ever looked at her like that; like Sasuke's black fire, _Amaterasu_. Suddenly, she felt like Raiden was looking at her and seeing someone else instead. Raiden quickly looked back ahead and kept walking.

"I'm twenty years old," he explained.

"How old are the kids?" she asked.

"Mako's thirteen, and Kaito's about nine months behind him." Raiden glanced to the skies as he talked, as if he were working to recall specific information. Then he raised one hand to wave at the enthusiastic girl still dancing in the streets. "Mei just turned ten."

Sakura nodded to acknowledge the information and went back to analyzing it. Mei, at least, had called Raiden "Father" with such familiarity that Sakura was inclined to believe her. Although if Mako was thirteen already—_and_ if Raiden was telling the truth now—fathering the older two of the three tagalongs would be physically impossible for Raiden.

"They're not really my kids," blurted Raiden, cutting directly into Sakura's train of thought.

"None of them?" Sakura prodded.

Raiden shook his head solemnly.

"Not by blood."

Sakura stared at him for a moment longer then looked back at Mei, who had thrown away the wooden skewer and skipped down the street while managing to avoid passers-by as only a child could. Mei was either familiar with Raiden's current disguise as the kids' father, or she thought of the man as such anyway. And Sakura couldn't deny that he was close with all three kids; they wouldn't listen to him so blindly unless they feared to do otherwise or they trusted him.

"Well, you're very good at pretending, Raiden," Sakura finally concluded.

"Genkei," the man beside her corrected quickly.

Sakura's eyes darted over to him again, surprised to see him frowning at her. But then his eyes fell on Mei again, and he walked forward with an easy stride.

"Raiden's a little obvious, don't you think?" She could see his smile turn up one corner of his mouth. "Genkei's a pretty good name."

"Is it your real name?" demanded Sakura, not really expecting an answer.

The man turned to her and rested one finger on the side of his nose as he grinned.

"Now, Sakura-chan," he drawled out, "that would be telling."

Sakura glared at him, fighting a niggling suspicion that he was laughing at her. Suddenly, Mei darted up to Sakura and grabbed the woman's hand in both of her smaller ones.

"Sakura-hime!" the girl called brightly. "Look at this."

Mei tugged Sakura down the street to stand in front of a large window with bolts of silk proudly displayed. The colors were vibrant, especially for such a small town, but Mei stared at them like she was entranced. Sakura couldn't help smiling down at the girl. Every little girl liked dress-up.

Then, Sakura heard a soft _poof_ of wind that felt unnatural. She spun her head around and saw Raiden—or Genkei, as he preferred—walking toward the two girls calmly. The dark-haired boy that had been tagging along was suddenly nowhere in sight.

"Where's Kaito-kun?" inquired Sakura calmly.

"He got tripped up over something." Genkei jerked one thumb over his shoulder. "He'll catch up."

Genkei looked down at Mei before Sakura could open her mouth again.

"What did you find, Mei-chan?" he asked.

"Can I get one, _Otou-san_?" Mei pointed one finger at a bright red bolt of silk decorated with bright orange maple leaves.

Genkei stooped down and picked the child up by her arms, settling her on his shoulders.

"Sorry, Mei-chan, we gotta find enough food for everyone first."

"_Hai_," Mei sighed.

Sakura followed the two down the street again, looking for a grocery store. She cast one final glance over her shoulder, but Kaito still wasn't there. She hoped Genkei hadn't left the kid somewhere to find for himself.

**o0O0o**

"Thanks, Kaito," the man grunted as he handed over Kaito's small backpack.

Kaito nodded at his _sensei_ and licked his lips nervously. He still half-expected the _kunoichi_ to come storming around the corner at any time. Their plan was way too simple. Mei had provided the distraction while _sensei_ made a double and pulled Kaito into a skinny alley that was barely wide enough to fit the two of them side by side. But _sensei_ didn't look worried, just intent.

"Mei-chan is okay?" Kaito demanded.

"She and Sakura-chan are with my _kage bunshin_," replied _sensei_. "I'll know if something happens."

"Yeah."

_Sensei_ had explained to all his students how the special clone worked. Mako was the only one who could use the technique properly so far. Kaito had him tied in numbers; they could both create ten at a time. But Mako's always lasted longer.

The tall man released the chakra around his body with a breath of wind. Kaito watched and smiled secretly. _Sensei_ looked better like this, with bright hair and eyes and marks on his cheeks that he had never _really_ explained to anyone. He hunkered down so that his body was folded nearly in half and sunk his eyetooth into the fleshy pad of his thumb until a drop of blood seeped out. Kaito watched him flash through a familiar set of hand signs and finish by slamming his palm on the ground in front of him.

"_Kuchiyose no Jutsu_."

A small puff of smoke followed _sensei_'s quiet call and faded away to reveal a brown toad wearing a dark cloak over its small body. The toad looked up curiously and frowned at the blond man.

"You young hoodlum," said the toad in way of greeting. "You better not be calling me out to baby-sit again."

Kaito stared at _sensei_. He had never heard that story. Glancing back at the small creature, Kaito wondered how the toad could ever qualify as a baby-sitter.

"I need to go to the mountain, _gama-jiji_," announced _sensei_ in a low voice. "I'm going to Konoha."

Immediately the toad sobered. Little wisps of white hair, very scraggly hair for an amphibian, came together as the creature frowned.

"Konoha?" he repeated. "Why?"

"It's a long story." _Sensei _just waved one hand through the air carelessly. "C'mon. I'm sick of having to concentrate on a Henge all the time."

The toad cocked his head to one side and stared at the light-haired man without saying a word. Kaito suddenly realized where _sensei_ got that look he gave his students when he wanted them to tell him something.

"Ma's gonna want an explanation," the toad finally declared.

"Yeah, yeah," agreed _sensei_. "Just get me there."

The toad disappeared in a quick flash of smoke again, and _sensei _looked at the boy next to him.

"Kaito, stall Sakura-chan as much as you can," he instructed. "I don't know how long this'll take me."

"_Hai_," Kaito replied.

He caught a glimpse of _sensei_'s wide smile before a cloud of smoke enveloped the man, too. The smoke cleared away slowly and left Kaito alone in the alley. He silently shouldered the backpack that _sensei_ left behind and ventured out into the open street again. Now he just had to find Sakura-chan and Mei-chan and make sure the Konoha lady didn't get too curious.

**o0O0o**

He landed in the middle of a grassy plain that was dotted with the most bizarre-looking plant life in the whole of the Elemental Countries. Giant toadstools and brightly-colored stalks sprang up so that the man felt like a midget. And yet, for all its weirdness, it was as close to coming home as he had gotten in a while.

"Well, Naruto-chan?"

Naruto looked down and saw two elderly toads sitting at his feet with their arms crossed and identical looks of an aged teacher—or grandparent—silently rebuking a child. Naruto threaded his fingers through his own hair, which was getting pretty long. The ends tickled the base of his neck as he scratched his scalp.

"Yeah," Naruto sighed, "long story."

"So start early," demanded Fukasaku.

Naruto grimaced and started walking toward the wood and mud buildings that passed as toad houses on Mount Myōbokuzan. He was going to need some of the supplies he never dared keep with him. Having a mountain that was darn near inaccessible to anyone who hadn't signed a contract was almost like having his own private country. Naruto never said that out loud, though. Shima would probably give him a whack to rival Fukasaku's with that stick of his for his impertinence.

"Hey, Naruto-nii-chan!"

Naruto looked up and waved vigorously at the large orange toad. Gamakichi was nearly as tall as his father now, although Gamabunta still held first place in the warrior-toad hierarchy.

"What are you doin' back here, bro?" Gamakichi inquired in his boisterous voice.

Naruto didn't really feel like giving the half-hearted excuse of a long story again, so he waved Gamakichi to follow. The young warrior-toad was still a few years behind Naruto in maturity—he still didn't really know how toads aged compared to humans—but he had become one of Naruto's closest comrades since leaving Konoha.

Naruto entered the only house that was shaped basically for human height, followed by two hopping figures while Gamakichi hovered outside one of the large windows.

"A team from Konoha found me in Hafuko yesterday," Naruto explained. "They asked me to fight against Orochimaru with them."

"They asked you back to Konoha?" confirmed Gamakichi.

A grimace curled Naruto's lips as he crossed the undecorated room to a table along one wall. For as empty as the hut was, the table was cluttered, with a _shitajiki_ resting obviously in the center of the wood. Naruto brushed aside a disorganized stack of papers, which all bore the same design in the center, to reveal the _suzuri_ with the dark _sumi_ resting on it.

"No," answered Naruto. "They asked Raiden. They don't know who I am yet."

Fukasaku hopped up onto the table beside Naruto's papers as the young man shuffled the paper seals neatly and slid them into a bento box.

"If you're going to be in Konoha, they might figure it out," the old toad warned.

"I know," muttered Naruto.

The risks had been flitting around in his mind ever since he had seen Sakura-chan standing at ready just outside of Hafuko. The girl knew him too well; everyone in Konoha's team did. He was sure that Kiba had smelled him just that morning, and rain couldn't be used as an excuse anymore. Plus, when he actually _got _to Konoha, there was the danger of running into Neji or another Hyuuga who could recognize his _unique_ chakra coil system. He was already stuck with Shikamaru for two more days, and _that_ guy had an annoying habit of putting puzzles together faster than anyone else.

And then, Naruto was already getting sick of teasing his best friend with a family name and have him respond with hate.

"I know," Naruto repeated. "It's just—"

He struggled to find the right words as he raised his hands in an attempt to become eloquent. All they ended up doing was flopping around like dying fish, and Naruto lowered them to his sides again almost immediately.

"I know."

Silence reigned in the small hut. Heavy, sticky silence that only came when no one knew what to say. Naruto hated those silences. They had happened too many times in his life already and never meant anything good. He scanned the sparse hut and bit his lower lip harshly.

"What else do you need?" asked Fukasaku brusquely.

Naruto's eyes stayed focused on the walls even though there was nothing there to see.

"I've already got my _kage_ scroll," he answered. "But I don't think I'll need it anytime soon. I need that genjutsu scroll and my notebook and a mirror."

"Here." Shima hopped up next to her husband, holding a scroll in her two webbed hands.

Fukasaku left the table in search of the requested items. Naruto's notebook was a mess—much like Jiraiya's always was—but it had his most important thoughts in it, so he needed it. Naruto took the scroll from the elderly female toad and unrolled it carefully. All his notes on Tsunade's _Infuuin_ were there, as well as his own suppositions on how he could twist it to suit his needs.

"Do you have it ready?" Gamakichi interjected when his great eye saw what was in Naruto's hands.

"Yeah," Naruto answered slowly. "I just don't know how long it'll last."

Tsunade's mark was meant to siphon off chakra, build it up for a time when she would need it. Naruto's variation would need a specific portion of chakra sealed away. After that, he hadn't figured out how to unconsciously draw from his chakra without also tapping into something he didn't want. It was almost like trying to fuse with Fukasaku in order to enter sage mode. Damn fox made him work for _everything_.

"Should be all right for now," Naruto concluded.

Fukasaku leaped back onto the table, narrowing missing the _suzuri_. He set down a thick notebook beside him and kept the small shaving mirror tucked beneath one arm.

"And what about for later?"

Naruto pursed his lips into a pout. The old toad always said Naruto's greatest weakness was that he didn't plan ahead. Naruto knew he wasn't the best organizer or strategist—growing up with Shikamaru as a friend and later a comrade had taught him his shortcomings in a hurry. But, he had his own method of thinking things out, and it seemed to work well for him.

"I guess I'll figure that out later," he announced nonchalantly. "Where're my brushes?"

"Here, Naruto-chan." Shima dug out two _fude_ from one corner of the messy table. "Are you sure you can't stay for a meal, at least?"

It was testament to Naruto's newfound experience in keeping secrets that he held back his gag reflex. The cuisine of toads was all right if you had a month to get used to it, but it wasn't exactly his first choice of sustenance.

"No, thanks, Ma," Naruto declined politely—like he could do anything else. "I really gotta finish this and get back before they miss me."

Naruto took a kunai from the pouch attached to his right thigh and quickly sliced through the pad of his left thumb. Holding the open wound over the _suzuri_, he let the blood drop into the shallow tray until the blood covered the bottom of the tray. He pinched his thumb with his forefinger to stop the bleeding and took the _sumi_ with his other hand and started rubbing the block in the blood. Slowly the red darkened to a rust color and then to black as the _sumi_ formed a thick kind of ink.

The cut had already stopped bleeding as Naruto put away his kunai and took up the larger brush instead. He loaded it with ink and then clamped the brush between his teeth so that his hands were free to come together.

"_Henge_!" Naruto verbally ordered his chakra.

He felt the technique settle into place. From outside the window, Gamakichi grunted.

"Doesn't look a thing like you, Naruto-nii-chan," he muttered from between fat lips.

"That's the point," Naruto shot back around the wooden handle of the brush.

He pried the brush from between his teeth and nodded at Fukasaku. The old toad held up the mirror in front of his own body. It was just large enough for Naruto to see his face. He frowned at the unfamiliarity of the face that gazed back then raised the brush in his hand. Carefully, he started painting the seal he wanted and felt the Henge settle over him like a second skin. With any luck, this would take care of some identification problems as well, especially with the team he had to go back to.

**o0O0o**

Kiba was still at it an hour after Raiden had left with Sakura and the two children.

"I'm tellin' you, it's weird," Kiba insisted. "He smells familiar."

"Have you met him before?" asked Shikamaru. His cigarette was absent, but his frown made him seem more serious than was typical.

Sasuke looked at Kiba and forced himself not to frown. He hated that his facial expressions were coming more easily now, and he could only blame it on his reactions to Raiden. That alone was enough to find the man an annoyance, but it was more the fact that no one knew anything about Raiden that irked Sasuke.

"I don't know," Kiba answered. "I can't place him."

"Has Akamaru recognized him?" pressed the jounin leader.

Kiba's face fell into almost a pout.

"No, but his nose isn't as good as mine." He cast an apologetic glance at the white beast of a dog beside him.

"Do you even know if he was an enemy or ally?" demanded Sasuke.

Kiba shook his head vigorously, like a dog ridding itself of water.

"I can't remember ever fighting someone like him, and I think I'd remember that."

Shikamaru hummed thoughtfully then cast a glance to a large tree about six meters away from the trio of ninja.

"_Oi_, kid," he called.

"Don't call me 'kid'," answered a dozing Mako. He kept his eyes shut and his arms folded behind his head as he reclined against the tree comfortably.

"Has your _sensei_ ever been to Konoha?" Shikamaru asked lightly.

Mako's eyes snapped open and focused on Shikamaru with impressive speed for a thirteen-year-old. His frown was mostly determination with a dash of sheer indignation thrown in to make him look like a warrior who was outclassed and still unwilling to back down. Sasuke frowned at the boy and ground his teeth to distract himself from the image of a dead boy with eyes far bluer but no less determined. Raiden wasn't the only one who was awaking Sasuke's ghosts.

Then, Mako's eyes brushed past Sasuke to glance over the man's shoulder. The grin that appeared on the boy's face reminded Sasuke of a kid about to pull a prank.

"Why don't you just ask him?"

Sasuke followed the boy's gaze despite a titillating temptation to continue glowering at the kid until he broke down and just spat out his answer. But the approaching footsteps, if not the chakra signatures themselves, were enough to divert his attention.

"Hey, Mako." Raiden, still in his familiar henge as a dark-haired man with graying temples, lifted one hand and waved to the party. "You bein' good?"

From beside him, Sakura shot the older man an exasperated glare. Mei clung to Sakura's hand as if they truly were mother and daughter, while Kaito walked alongside Raiden's figure. Only in the deepest regions of his mind did Sasuke admit that the four looked like the perfect family walking together.

Which would make Mako the oddball of the family, he supposed.

"Nope," Mako answered, still bearing his catty grin.

Raiden gave a chuckle appropriate for a middle-aged man and cast his eyes over the rest of the waiting party. Kiba tensed as the man's gaze darted past him and came to rest on Sasuke's glower. Adding to the list of reasons why Sasuke didn't like Raiden's reactions, the sight of Sasuke's cold eyes only made Raiden grin.

"Jeez, are ya that glad to see me, Uchiha?" he demanded. His grin quickly faded only to be replaced with an affected pain. "No faith in your new comrade. It wounds." Raiden tapped his fingers over his heart. "Right here."

"Sakura, watch out!"

Black eyes shifted suddenly into red at Kiba's insistent cry, but Sasuke could only watch as Kiba darted forward and grabbed Sakura's arm, jerking her away from the picture perfect family. Akamaru barreled in next and swiped at Raiden. Sakura's unbalanced form flew into Sasuke's arms and prevented him from joining the sudden scuffle. But his eyes, wide and sharp, caught the way Raiden pushed Kaito to one side before leaping backwards with a cry of "hey!" He was getting the boy out of harm's way.

"Kiba!" Sakura barely even acknowledged that she was in Sasuke's arms. She was too busy glaring at Kiba. "What the—"

"That's not Raiden," Kiba interrupted with a quick glance over his shoulder.

Sasuke's Sharingan turned onto Raiden with a vengeance, taking in all the details he could. The man looked just the same as when Sasuke had seen him in his shop in Hafuko. The same cloud of chakra from the henge surrounded his limbs and head. But Kiba kept growling at the frozen man.

"He doesn't smell the same. He smells—"

Suddenly, Raiden disappeared, leaving behind a cloud of smoke where he had once stood. Sasuke searched, but he could only see a haze of empty chakra. Raiden's presence was nowhere in the smoke, not even the trace of a transportation jutsu.

"No faith at _all_," commented a voice dully from above Sasuke's head.

As one, those on the ground looked up into the tree that Mako still leaned against with his hands behind his head. Mako's eyebrows nearly disappeared into his hairline as he looked above him and found his sensei hovering over him. Genkei was Raiden again, with the white mask and dark bandanna covering his face and hair. He held a dark bundle in one hand, no bigger than a bento box. The dark red coat he seemed to be fond of swished gently around his ankles as he crouched on the thickest branch of the tree.

"What was that?" demanded Kiba.

"_Kage Bunshin_," Shikamaru answered calmly.

Sasuke threw a frown at the special jounin. Shikamaru didn't seem surprised by the feint, but then again Shikamaru was rarely surprised.

"That's a kinjutsu," muttered Sakura accusingly.

Sasuke lowered his hands from where they had steadied her body, and Raiden rose to stand straight on the branch. He tucked the bundle under one arm and looked through his mask at the people below him.

"I'm an S-class nin even in Mizu's books, and they don't know anything about me," replied Raiden with a scoff. "You seriously think I _don't_ know a kinjutsu or two?"

"Or twelve?" suggested Mako.

"Shut up, _kouzu_." Raiden jumped easily from the branch and landed in front of the Konoha team. He held out the bundle to the boy beneath the tree. Mako jumped to his feet quickly and took the item tied in black cloth from his _sensei_.

"Is that why Orochimaru wants you?" Shikamaru questioned.

Raiden's masked visage snapped over to study Shikamaru silently.

"One of the reasons," Raiden finally replied. "He likes the fact I can cheat death."

"Every decent ninja can cheat death," scowled Kiba.

Raiden twisted his neck so that his mask was bent at an odd angle to his body as he looked back at Inuzuka.

"Yeah, but I can actually _remember _it."

It was unnerving the way he could convey his grin through sheer voice infliction. When nobody called him on his explanation, Raiden raised one hand and started counting off on his fingers.

"Let's see, I bled out that one time. Then I was crushed to death. I think I got decapitated."

"You _think_?" repeated Sakura incredulously.

"Well, it's kinda hard to see when your head's separate from your body." Raiden shrugged in response.

"That's impossible," Sakura declared immediately.

"Obviously, you've never met a disciple of Jashin."

The simple statement was enough to wipe the doubt off of Sakura's face, although Sasuke took a bit longer to puzzle it out. That one member of Akatsuki had been a member of a strange religion that followed Jashin, according to the report. Supposedly, he was still buried somewhere on the grounds that belonged to the Nara clan. True to form, Raiden's mask suddenly turned to Shikamaru.

"Or did you?" he demanded, again with that sense of inane grinning.

"You're a follower of—"

"_Hell_, no." Raiden actually sounded offended at Sakura's unfinished supposition. "I'm just too stubborn to stay dead."

Sakura eyed him suspiciously while Kaito found Mei's hand and led her over to Mako's side by the tree. The three were together again, and only then did they seem to relax in the presence of Raiden. Or maybe it was the Konoha shinobi who were making Raiden's students so tense. Raiden dropped the face of his mask toward the ground and let out a soft exhalation.

"Don't think about it too much, Sakura-chan," Raiden admonished. "Death isn't so bad. It's the dying part I hate."

He lifted one hand and curled his fingers under the chin of his mask. With one swift motion, Raiden lifted his head and pulled the white mask up and off his face. The first thing that Sasuke noticed was that he could actually _see _Raiden's face; there was no haze of chakra surrounding his features, and no heated air to suggest he was using _Henge no Jutsu_. This was Raiden's real face.

He was young. He barely looked older than Kiba or even Sasuke himself. His eyes were gray, like Mako's, set in a round face. His eyebrows were the same color as the hair that peeked out from beneath the bandanna that covered his head, a light brown that was almost blond. The black image of a fuuma shiruken rested just beneath his right eye. The bottom blade ended shortly in a shadow that made it look like the weapon was actually digging into Raiden's skin. From his position next to all Raiden's luggage as well as the kids', Mako gave a hesitant smile to the newly-unveiled Raiden.

"Hi, Genkei-sensei," he greeted as if the man had just appeared.

The man who now had a face smiled widely at the boy. Raiden stepped toward his students and dropped his mask unceremoniously onto the youngest one's head. Mei raised both hands to keep the mask on top of her head so that the blank face stared up into the branches of the tree, and she smiled.

"What happened to your scent?" demanded Kiba. He hadn't stopped scowling at Raiden, even when the mask was no longer an issue.

"What about it?" Raiden bent down to pick up the cloth pack at the base of the tree. "You sayin' I stink, Inuzuka?"

"Yeah," Kiba returned with a sneer. "Like oil."

Raiden looked up and threw a curious glance at Kiba, like he didn't quite believe him. Then, a pleased smile broke out on his face.

"Cool," he declared.

"_Sensei_ went to the mountain," Mei declared when Mako turned puzzled eyes to his friends.

The explanation seemed to answer everything as Mako nodded solemnly.

"I was with a _bunshin_ the whole time?" Sakura huffed.

The young-looking Raiden bounded over to Sakura's side and threw an arm around her shoulder comfortingly.

"Not the whole time, Sakura-chan," he pouted. "I wouldn't miss going to town with you."

Sasuke's eyes burned, but he supposed that the Sharingan was responsible for that. Sakura was quick to push the offending arm off her; S-class nuke-nin or not, no one got away with pawing her.

"Get off," she growled dangerously.

Raiden just kept grinning in that stupid way of his.

"Enough," Shikamaru suddenly joined in the conversation. He frowned at the man in the red coat. "Are we ready to go, Raiden?"

Turning serious, Raiden shrugged on his pack and handed the second bag to Mako.

"Sure," he responded. "And stop calling me Raiden. I like Genkei better."

* * *

A/N: Ta da! Okay, who was honestly surprised by this? 'Cuz I thought I was a little obvious, but then I knew what was coming. Anyway, Naruto's back! And going home! And, of course, everyone else is still clueless as to his true identity. Ooh, this is gonna be fun.

Side notes I feel obligated to explain: The idea from Naruto's seal/tattoo actually came from Kishimoto-_sensei_ himself. On the first page of chapter 5 in Naruto, there is a picture of Naruto looking like a punk, complete with fuuma shiruken tattoo under his eye. Look it up if you want a visual reference.

Kage Bunshin, for future reference, is a forbidden jutsu and listed in Konoha's secret scroll that Naruto steals in the first chapter, but I don't think it's exclusive to Konoha. Elemental clones, like _mizu bunshin _or _raiten bunshin_ would be more likely to be associated with certain villages, but even then, Kakashi uses a lightning clone just because it's his element in the fight with Pein. So, Kage Bunshin is not a reason for the Konoha shinobi to suspect Raiden of any specific origin.

Also, about the way Sasuke sees Naruto's disguise: The Byagakun has the ability to see _through_ things, hence Neji's near 180 degree range of vision. When Kishimoto draws a Hyuuga's point of view in battle, it shows either a ghostly version of his surroundings or his enemy's _tenketsu_. So, I don't think I'm stretching when Naruto thinks a Hyuuga could see through his disguise.

Sasuke, on the other hand, has said himself that his eyes "give color to chakra." That's why he sees the Henge on Naruto initially as a cloud of color. He _doesn't_ see the Henge that Naruto has from Tsunade's _Infuuin_ because it doesn't use chakra in a way that his eyes can see. It would be like him looking at Naruto's stomach and seeing the seal when no one else can. The seal on Naruto's face actually holds the chakra creating his appearance still and in place. Because the chakra is not actively being used, Sasuke's Sharingan cannot see it.

That's my theory, anyway. See, you all next month.

Sincerely,

Fia

_fude_ – A calligraphy brush. There is usually a larger brush for writing the main characters and a smaller one for writing the artist's name. If you're wondering why Naruto has a calligraphy set, it becomes clear.

_Infuuin_ – Secret Mark Seal: This is the name for the diamond seal in the middle of Tsunade's forehead. Over a period of time, Tsunade will focus and build up chakra in the seal mark on her forehead. The release command will disperse the seal and allow the stored chakra to pump back into her body. She uses it after she gets stabbed by Orochimaru.

_Kuchiyose no Jutsu _– Summoning Technique: pretty self-explanatory, and guess who signed a contract with toads.

_shitajiki –_ Black, soft mat used to provide a comfortable, soft surface for writing calligraphy.

_suzuri_ – A heavy black container for the ink.

_sumi_ – Solid black material that must be rubbed in water in the _suzuri_ to produce the black ink which is then used for writing. Naruto's use of blood instead of water produces a thicker ink.

_tansu_ – A type of traditional Japanese storage chest, sometimes with drawers as well.


	5. In Which They Arrive

Chapter 4: In Which They Arrive

_And after all, what is a lie? 'Tis but the truth in masquerade._

~ Lord Byron

**o0O0o**

"You wanna ride with me, _mei mei_?" Mako asked Mei with a smile.

Still perched on Kaito's back, Mei turned her head to look at the older boy as they paused for a moment, all three of them, on a thick branch of a tree. As the landscape had changed around them, turning from grassy plains to a dense forest, the adults had all started leaping from tree branch to tree branch instead of running along the ground. Mei had never seen so many trees so close together before—trees didn't grow very well in Ame. The arms that were hooked under Mei's legs shifted slightly as Kaito looked at Mako.

"Let me down, Kaito-kun," she commanded.

He was probably getting tired of carrying her, anyway. She slipped down to rest her feet on the tree branch, keeping her arms locked around his neck until she was sure of her footing. Kaito kept studying Mako intently.

"Is your leg okay?" he demanded.

"Yeah," Mako answered and stomped his left foot on the branch twice to prove it. "Turned out fine this morning, even with all the running."

Mei smiled proudly at the boy.

"Sakura-_hime_ healed it well," she announced.

Kaito looked over his shoulder and crinkled his eyebrows the same way _sensei_ did when he was puzzled.

_ "Hime_?" repeated Kaito, like he couldn't believe what Mei had named the Konoha kunoichi.

"She's pretty." Mei stuck her lip out in a determined pout. Suddenly, she turned to Mako with wide, excited eyes. "Do you think she's the princess in _sensei_'s story?"

_Sensei_ always told good stories. His best one was about a prince that got turned into a toad by an evil _shinobi_ and had to be kissed by a beautiful princess—who also happened to be a med-nin because that was the only way someone could channel healing chakra through a kiss. Mako opened his mouth with a frown then closed it without saying anything. Like a fish, Mei thought.

"I don't know, _mei mei_," Mako finally answered.

"Hey, who said it was break time?"

The three kids looked up as one and faced the man with light brown hair and gray eyes standing on a branch just above their heads. Mei didn't know if she liked _sensei_'s face like this. She _hated _the mask that he put on sometimes because it meant that he couldn't be _sensei. _ But this fake face wasn't quite right, either. It wasn't light enough to be _sensei_'s, and the smile, as wide as it was, was the wrong shape. But _sensei_ just kept staring at his students with his fists planted firmly on his hips, waiting for an answer.

"We're just changing things around, _sensei_," Mako replied in a light tone. "I'm carrying Mei-chan, and Kaito's gonna have the backpacks."

"Or you could carry everything yourself," suggested Kaito.

Mei giggled as Mako stuck out his tongue at his friend and dropped the packs onto the branch.

"Ah, my team," _sensei _sighed aloud from above them. "So dear to my heart."

"What's the hold up?"

The ninja that looked like a wild animal—Kiba, she remembered—suddenly landed hard on the branch right next to _sensei_ with his large white dog beside him.

"I thought you were in a hurry to get to Konoha," accused Kiba-san.

"Yeah," _sensei_ replied hurriedly and looked back down at his beloved team. "You guys ready to go again?"

"_Hai_," Kaito answered immediately.

Mei busied herself with climbing onto Mako's back, holding onto his shoulders tightly while he crouched down and held out his hands to catch her legs as she jumped. She balanced herself carefully across Mako's back so that she wouldn't knock the boy over. It _was _a long way to the ground from where they were.

"Is there a problem, Raiden?" demanded a cold voice.

With her arms linked together just over Mako's chest, Mei craned her neck to look backwards, farther behind _sensei_. Uchiha Sasuke glared down at his break-taking teammates with eyes that seemed dead to the world. At least _sensei_, when he was pretending to be _Tou-san_, had eyes that sparkled when he was happy.

_Sensei_ didn't answer Uchiha-san. Instead, Kiba-san looked up at his teammate with his nose wrinkled.

"Who knew _you _were in such a hurry, too?" barked Kiba-san.

"Enough," Raiden ordered before Uchiha-san could reply or Kiba-san found the breath for another insult. "Let's get going."

Uchiha-san _humph_-ed and jumped from his perch deeper into the forest, with Kiba-san and his dog following after. _Sensei _lagged behind, studying the kids gathered on one branch.

"We're good, _sensei_," Mako assured the man.

_Sensei_ nodded and pushed off his own branch easily, like he had done it a thousand times before. Mako leaped into the air with slightly less strength, bouncing Mei on his back. Mei leaned forward to murmur in the boy's ear.

"Mako-kun, is Konoha a nice place?"

Mako was the only one who had ever seen Konoha, besides _sensei_. Mei had only been outside of Ame no Kuni that one time that _sensei_ had taken a trip to Suna, and Kaito never showed any interest in going somewhere that _sensei_ was not.

"It's bigger than anything in Ame," answered Mako as he landed harshly on a branch only to jump to the next one. "Even Amegakure. But it's really sunny there. You'll like it, Mei-chan. It's pretty."

"Yeah," Mei breathed into his neck. If Mako-kun liked the place, and _sensei_ loved the place, she would be content there. As long as she was with her family.

**o0O0o**

The day passed basically in silence, which was all forms of pleasing to Sasuke. Their only break had been around lunch when Raiden demanded that the team stop so that he could cook enough rice to make _onigiri_ for his kids. Besides that, it had been Raiden who generally set the pace for the day, pausing long enough to let those with less stamina—which usually coincided with whoever was carrying the girl—catch his breath.

Sasuke had progressed through the day by ignoring his team and especially Raiden and his kids. But it was slowly getting harder. It was late; the sky was more orange and pink than blue now, but the sun still shone through the trees. Just ahead of him, Raiden halted on a thin branch in a crouch with one hand braced beside his feet. It was the third time within the past hour that Raiden had stopped moving.

"What now?" growled Sasuke in a manner Kiba probably would have been proud of.

"Something's not right," Raiden answered, only half paying attention to Sasuke's position on the same thin branch.

"Oh, please tell me we're stopping for the night," Kiba blurted as he landed on a thicker branch that could hold both him and Akamaru.

"Wait," commanded the man beside Sasuke.

Raiden stood up; Sasuke was sure the man used chakra to affix himself to the branch as his standing place was hardly wide enough for the soles of his feet. Sakura and Shikamaru drew up to the tree just in front of Sasuke and turned back to look at the delay. Finally, Raiden's two students landed on a branch directly above their teacher. Mei slipped down from her position on Mako's back, and Kaito bent over and peered around the branch so that he hung almost upside down.

"Genkei-_sensei_?" the boy called curiously.

"Balancing," Raiden shot back in a warning tone.

Sasuke had no idea what the response was supposed to mean. The simple word made Kiba perk up and bend at the waist, craning his neck for a better view of the man below him. Sasuke watched as dark shadows once again encircled Raiden's eyes, the same way they had in the furniture shop in Hafuko. Then, Raiden opened his eyes and frowned at some distant point to the northeast.

"You guys weren't expecting company, were you?" Raiden tilted his head towards Sasuke.

The man's eyes were now yellow instead of gray, and his pupils didn't look right. They had morphed into horizontal boxes that made his eyeballs look too big for his face. It must have been some ability of Raiden's, something in conjunction with his chakra sensing.

"What's wrong, _sensei_?" demanded Mako.

"There's three people coming from that direction." Raiden pointed northeast. "Feels like three genin."

Kiba cocked his head at Shikamaru curiously.

"Backup?" he questioned.

"Tsunade-_shishou_ would never send a genin team to help out a jounin retrieval team," protested Sakura.

Raiden snorted amusedly through his nose. Sasuke shot the man a glare and hoped it would be enough to shut him up. He doubted it.

"Besides, there's no way she would know where we are," Shikamaru interjected. "We haven't sent any correspondence since Hafuko."

"Sorry, dog-breath." Raiden shrugged and crouched on his branch again, peering at the underbrush below him. "I don't think these are from Konoha."

Sasuke's senses reached out and found the three signatures Raiden was talking about. Three chakra sources, small enough to be genin-level and unfocused, children most likely. Then, a rustle in the bushes drew Sasuke's eyes down to where Raiden was staring.

A moment later, three short figures burst out of the forest and rested at the base of the tree both Raiden and Sasuke were perched in. Sasuke recognized two of them immediately as boys; one carried a thin blade across his back while the other wore a stocking cap that covered nearly all of his head. The third figure was somewhat ambiguous. The long hair and eyelashes made Sasuke a bit unsure as to its gender. He did recognize the symbol scratched into the metal headbands that each kid wore.

"Hey, look at the little Oto kids," crooned Raiden.

Sasuke had to admit that, despite the lack of his plain mask and his young-looking face, Raiden still looked intimidating. It might have been the strange eyes or the way Raiden's grin showed off all his teeth except his molars. Either way, all three kids turned suddenly to look up. One of the boys' mouth dropped open at the sight of a five-man team, all hovering over their heads.

"Oto," Kiba noted with a fang-tipped grin. "What're you doin' in Hi no Kuni?"

"You said we wouldn't find any _shinobi_ this far away from Konoha," hissed one of the boys.

"Shut up!" the boy with the round hat bit back. "We're not supposed to engage anyone. Let's go!"

"If you're not supposed to engage us, what are you doing?" Sakura took up the demand, glaring down at the kids as if they were unruly patients.

"I'm guessing scouting," threw out Raiden. He was still grinning.

"So what?" shouted the first boy. "We're not attacking you."

"Sheesh." Mako crouched on his branch, folding his arms over his knees to rest his chin on them. "You guys suck at keeping secrets."

"Hey, _sensei_," began Kaito, "can we fight them?"

Sasuke glanced up at the two boys that Raiden claimed as his protégés. Kaito gazed down at the Oto genin in an eager manner that Sasuke hadn't seen on the boy's face before. Mei stood between them, almost hidden by her own hands, clutched in front of her chest. Raiden tilted his head at a strange angle until he was looking up at the boy with a wide grin that raised one corner of his mouth higher than the other. A bare hand rose in the air with a lazy wave.

"Go for it." Raiden shrugged as if he didn't care.

Mako let out a loud, excited _whoop _and jumped from his branch to the trunk of the tree, letting gravity carry him as he ran down the trunk toward the ground. Kaito followed by jumping from the high branch to a lower one, following them down like steps until he reached the ground next to Mako. The two boys stood straight and grinned just like their _sensei_ at the Oto genin.

"You're dead meat," muttered Mako.

They charged.

**o0O0o**

Mako ran for the by with a _katana _strapped across his back. Thanks to his talent with Earth justu, Mako knew he had a better defense against bladed weapons, so it was logical that he hogged that genin all to himself. Besides, Kaito was already throwing a punch at the boy with the stocking hat. Mako was a little worried that the last Oto team member—he wasn't sure if it was a boy or girl—would simply wait to see which of the two boys was weaker, Mako or Kaito, and quickly attack that one to help out his comrades. But _sensei_ would never let them fall to a bunch of _genin_. It had been a while since the man had trained with any of them, given his most recent trips to the mountain and then the Konoha team coming to visit. So, Mako guessed that _sensei_ just wanted to see how his students had grown.

The Oto boy drew his sword and pointed it abruptly at Mako. Recognizing a thrust when he saw one, Mako stopped short and ran through a series of hand signs. He slammed his palms against the ground in front of him.

"_Doryuu Heki._"

A wall of earth, dry and light like the ground beneath Mako's feet, suddenly shot up in front of the boy's attack. The tip of the _kanata_ pierced through the defense and stopped about ten centimeters from Mako's face. The blade withdrew almost as swiftly and then cut through the wall with a clean, sideways sweep from the hip. Mako backed up quickly as the wall crumbled to reveal the boy, now looking a little more serious.

"You're an idiot," growled the Oto genin. "Do you think you can win against us? You're not even genin."

Mako sneered at the boy, utterly unimpressed with his insult.

"I had a better teacher than you _ever_ did."

And he knew it was true because he knew _sensei. _Mako kept smiling as he ran through a new jutsu.

_ "Moguragakure no Jutsu."_

Mako had just enough time to watch the boy's eyes widen before he disappeared under the ground like a mole. He felt the gentle tapping of feet moving above his head. Mako wasn't quite skilled enough to be able to tell which way his enemy was facing, but he knew the boy was confused. The guy was hopping around so much that it felt like he was tap dancing on the ground, probably looking for where Mako would pop up next. Covered in dirt, Mako grinned widely. He could help with that.

Mako thrust his hands upwards, towards the surface above him, and he pushed his chakra outward. The ground broke apart, and Mako felt his fingers wrap around a bony ankle. He yanked his opponent down, using the momentum to pull himself up at the same time. He heard the boy cry out as his head broke free of the ground, leaving the Oto genin up to his thighs in loose dirt and heavy rocks. The boy slammed the blade of his _katana_ into the ground as a prop in an effort to hold himself up.

"Hikaru!" the sword-wielder called angrily. "Help us out, here, wouldja!"

Mako pulled himself to his feet on the solid ground surrounding the Oto boy and glanced at the one called Hikaru. The final genin was leaning up against a small tree with his arms crossed. A very girly-boy if it even was a boy, Mako thought. His eyes traveled a little further and fell on Kaito's opponent. The boy clutched at his left arm, protecting a slice through his shoulder that started at his collarbone and traveled up and over the top of his shoulder, exposing the white of the bone. Mako caught Kaito's eye and smiled broadly, proudly. Kaito just rolled his eyes and faced the hat-capped boy again. Mako turned back to the boy trapped in the ground.

"See, you don't need this anymore," Mako announced as he wrapped his hand around the sword and wrenched it away from the fallen boy.

The boy began to protest, but Mako only flipped the sword in his hand, holding it backwards so that the hilt faced his enemy. He swung hard, feeling the resistance as the end of the hilt struck against the boy's temple. The boy slumped and fell forward with his face in the dirt, unconscious.

"Told you I had a good teacher," Mako snapped and resisted the urge to stick out his tongue at the unconscious figure.

Mako faced the boy against the tree, who still hadn't moved from his lacsidasical position.

"You're a bit mean, y'know?" Mako called to the one genin who hadn't seen fit to fight yet.

The silent, gender-less being only shrugged as he leaned against the tree. Mako didn't really care for the way this last genin just stood there and watched his teammates get beaten. And they _were _getting beaten because Kaito was about two hits away from knocking the capped boy flat on his ass. Mako grasped the hilt of the sword firmly. He never cared much for blades, except for the weapons that _sensei_ had taught him how to use; but at least if he had the sword, then the bastard named Hikaru didn't.

Mako lifted the sword and charged at Hikaru. In the short time it took for him to reach his target, Mako wondered why Hikaru wasn't making any sort of defensive move against him. Mako drew the sword in a wide arc, aiming for the boy's side. Hikaru froze then, suddenly, raised one hand and caught the sword blade with his bare palm. Mako's eyes widened to take in the sight. Hikaru's palm wasn't even bleeding, and he knew from experience that the blade was sharp.

"Fool," Hikaru muttered contemptuously.

Mako felt the punch before he even realized Hikaru had swung. The fist caught him in the jaw and sent him flying. Mako soared across the boy he had struck unconscious and collided with a tree. For a moment, the sun-dappled forest turned to black with stars the only thing dotting his vision.

"Mako!" Kaito called desperately, but Mako couldn't see his friend through the dizzy haze that clouded his eyes.

Mako slumped down the tree he had hit, falling haphazardly on the ground with his limbs akimbo. He closed his eyes tightly then peeled them open again in an effort to see what was going on. Hikaru stood over him with the discarded sword raised high above his head. The smooth skin on the boy's face was decorated with black markings—like ripples in water—spreading slowly from the left side of his face.

Oh, that wasn't good.

**o0O0o**

Kaito saw the blade poised over Mako's body and yelled at his friend to wake up. Mako rolled over just as the boy named Hikaru swung down the sword. Unable to get out of the way entirely, Mako raised his arm to block the _katana_. The blade cut through Mako's left forearm, sliding easily through the skin to draw blood.

"Mako!" Kaito called again as he heard his cry echoed by Mei above them.

Kaito glanced up, but Mei was holding still on the branch where they had left her. _Sensei_ wasn't moving, either; just crouching on the branch as his fake eyes watched the battle below him.

"Hey!"

Kaito looked back at the boy with the bleeding shoulder and stocking cap.

"You're fighting me, remember?" demanded the boy.

The boy glared at him hotly and sneered. Then, Kaito saw him shift his weight, only slightly but enough for Kaito to know where to block. It was a good thing _sensei_ had made him fight Mako over and over again until they both knew each other's tells. Kaito brought his hand up under the other boy's raised arm and pushed hard, forcing the fist over his head as he drove the heel of his palm into the boy's right side, just under his ribs. The capped boy doubled over, clutching his stomach. Kaito planted his left foot on the ground and swung his right in a roundhouse kick that struck the boy on the side of his head. The Oto boy crumpled to the ground in a heap. Not bothering to check if his opponent was still breathing, Kaito spun on his heel to face Mako and Hikaru.

The feminine boy stalked after Mako, who was still on the ground on his stomach. Kaito drew a kunai and leapt forward toward the aggressor's back. Just as Kaito raised his kunai, Hikaru turned to face him with the _katana_ in front of him. Kaito quickly lifted the kunai in front of his face to block the sudden threat. A sharp _ting _reverberated through Kaito's arm as the sword struck the kunai. The face that studied him back was decorated with spindly lines like ripples of water.

"You're Orochimaru's pet!" Kaito snarled.

Hikaru never even acknowledged the insult as he stepped back again and raised the blade.

"And you are his traitor," retorted the Oto genin.

Kaito bared his teeth at his opponent; he hated being reminded of his birth place. It would have been better if he shared a heritage with Mako, or even Mei-chan. Even if they were all equally alone, Mako and Mei remembered what family felt like. Kaito had been cast off by everyone except for _sensei_.

"Rather be a traitor than what you are."

Kaito felt like spitting on the ground at Hikaru's feet—or better yet, in the boy's face. He knew what those lines, like living inked designs on his skin, meant. The boy had given himself over to Orochimaru's strength. If he didn't become the snake's next body once the leader of Oto shed his skin yet again, Hikaru would probably die anyway.

Plus, his attitude just plain irritated Kaito

"You don't even care that your teammates may be dying," snapped Kaito, gesturing to where the boy he had been fighting lay still on the forest floor.

The unconscious boy wasn't in any danger of dying, and Mako's opponent probably wasn't, either. It wasn't _sensei_'s style. But the idea was more important, and Kaito was sure the sentiment was true. Hikaru just smiled thinly, unperturbed by Kaito's low opinion of his morals.

"Such bonds are weak," Hikaru declared.

He held up one hand and stretched it toward Mako. Mako's head lolled on his shoulders. Kaito could see him struggle to gather enough strength to stand, move, _do _something. Then, a snake's head shot out of Hikaru's sleeve, aimed directly at Mako, and Kaito let go.

"No!" he cried, leaping at Hikaru.

He could feel something burning its way through his veins, like a shot of adrenaline straight into his heart. Every part of his enemy was highlighted in detail. The heat spread from his veins to a new pattern up the left side of his neck and across his face as he planted his fist into Hikaru's face. There was a burn across his arm, a different kind suddenly, more painful, but it didn't matter as long as the _idiot_ died.

Then, a strong arm, stained deep red, wrapped around Kaito's chest and pinned his arms to his sides. Kaito screamed against the sudden restraint and kicked furiously. But the presence above him, behind him, was larger than his strength was capable of fighting.

"Enough, Kaito."

A fire, concentrated and painful this time, pierced the skin of his neck, just above his left shoulder. The pain cleared Kaito's mind, and he realized what had happened as exhaustion swept through him. Just before darkness took over his mind, he last thoughts were of how he had disappointed his _sensei_.

**o0O0o**

Naruto knew things would be worse than he expected when he saw the dark lines that reminded him of a retrieval mission gone wrong spreading across Hikaru's girly-boy face. Orochimaru had changed his curse seal again, but Naruto had had enough nightmares about it to recognize it on a twelve-year-old (or so) boy.

This was _meant_ to be an opportunity for the Konoha team to see what his boys could do. And maybe—just _maybe—_he wanted to rub it in Sasuke's face how well he had been raising his own mismatched team/family. But then Hikaru had gotten ugly, and Naruto had hesitated, wanting to see just how advanced the boy's curse seal was and how much power he could already draw from it.

And then things really got ugly.

"Mako-kun!" Mei cried as Orochimaru's new guinea pig thrust a hand toward Mako and summoned a snake that seemed to seep from his body toward his victim.

Naruto didn't wait for Mei to finish her cry before his hand dove into the pouch on his thigh, his fingers curling around a thick kunai handle. He sent the heavy weapon hurtling at the reptile that was bearing down on Mako. The oddly-shaped blade pierced the snake's head, pinning it to the ground, at the same time as Naruto jumped from the branch. He felt the seal wrapped around the kunai's handle pull his very being and landed on the ground with his hand wrapped around the tri-pronged kunai in the snake's head.

He hoped all his friends above him weren't looking too closely. Naruto yanked the kunai out of the dead snake and quickly slipped it back into his pouch before anyone could get a good look at it.

"Raiden!" Kiba called down to him.

"Stay out of it," Naruto snapped back. Immediately, he realized he had been a little harsher than necessary, but the small ball of fear in his gut refused to let anyone near his secrets—or his students', for that matter.

A glance over his shoulder confirmed that Mako was okay, if not shaken. But that cut across his arm needed to be stopped. Naruto didn't even look up as he shouted.

"Sakura, come help Mako!"

He refused to feel guilty for ordering his friends around, not in the middle of a battle when Naruto could already see the dark lines spread up Kaito's neck, reaching for his face. He needed to stop it. Leaving Mako to Sakura's care, Naruto leaped forward and wrapped one arm around Kaito's chest and arms.

"Enough, Kaito," he growled in the boy's ear even as he kept his eyes on the Oto genin in front of them both.

Kaito stiffened suddenly in Naruto's arms, but then he quickly fell limp. Shifting to hold the boy like a sack of rice in one arm, Naruto straightened and fixed his full attention on Orochimaru's newest subject for the curse seal. Hikaru's eyes watched this new opponent carefully, judging the man's size and speed. Naruto guessed that the sudden demise of his summoned animal had come as a surprise.

"Get outa here," Naruto ordered in a low voice. "Get your teammates and leave."

Hikaru silently obeyed. Naruto followed the boy with his eyes as Hikaru, still marked with concentric circles on his face and left arm, roused his teammates enough to limp away. Once the three were gone, Naruto lowered Kaito's body to the ground and rolled him on his right side.

"Let me see him," commanded Sakura from behind Naruto.

"No," came Naruto's immediate response. "You won't be able to do anything for him."

Whatever other injuries Kaito had—which most likely only consisted of chakra exhaustion—Sakura couldn't do anything about the main one. Naruto twisted his head over his right shoulder and saw Mako standing wearily beside Sakura, who was looking thoroughly disapproving.

"Mako, gimme a kunai." Naruto held out his right hand to the boy.

Silently, Mako reached into the pouch strapped to his thigh and took out a sharp knife. With one finger through the looped hole on the blunt end, Mako offered the handle to his _sensei_.

"Other way," Naruto corrected.

Mako glanced down at the kunai before comprehension overtook his features. He flipped the kunai so that he held the handle properly with the blade pointed at Naruto. Naruto curled his fingers around the blade and withdrew his hand quickly, feeling the sharp edges slice through the skin at the creases of his fingers.

"What are you doing?" Sakura asked suspiciously.

Naruto felt another pair of feet land on the ground behind him as he traced his bloody fingers around the spot on Kaito's neck. The footsteps were light enough to be either Shikamaru or Sasuke. That same ball of fear in Naruto's gut prayed it wasn't Sasuke. Not yet.

"Leave him alone!" Mei's voice suddenly rained down on the small gathering of ninja from above. "He wouldn't want you to see him like this!"

Her cry was pure indignation, but it served as enough of a distraction for Naruto to finish his work. He watched his own red blood fade into black marks on Kaito's skin. Then, Naruto stood, balancing Kaito in his arms while the large scroll and pack on his back weighed him down. He turned around and saw Shikamaru standing next to Sakura looking—well, not curious, but unusually focused.

"We need to find a better place to stop," he informed Shikamaru.

"Kaito-kun?" Mei called again from the branches above them.

Naruto glanced up in time to see Kiba slide his hands under Mei's arms and lift her to straddle Akamaru.

"I got this one," Kiba called down, although Naruto wasn't quite sure if the Inuzuka was addressing him or Shikamaru.

Naruto turned to Mako, who clutched his injured arm even as he stared back at Naruto defiantly.

"I can run, _sensei_," the boy declared.

Sakura's mouth twisted in displeasure at this assurance. She stepped forward and jabbed one finger toward Naruto's chest.

"I will examine Kaito as soon as we camp for the night," announced the _iryou-nin_ in a voice that demanded full compliance.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed.

He'd have to think of something to tell them. Something that _wasn't _the actual truth, probably. Naruto glanced at Shikamaru, fully expecting him to declare how "troublesome" the situation was. But Shikamaru just stared back at Naruto until Naruto worried that something on his disguise had slipped. He went slightly cross-eyed trying to look at his own hair color, but then Shikamaru turned away without a word. Naruto sighed and slowly followed the leader of the Konoha team.

"Next time I decide to do something stupid like this, _kouzu_," he muttered as he passed Mako, "stop me."

**o0O0o**

Once the fire was burning in the center of the campsite the tracking team had set up, Sakura started checking over her team, as was her duty as the sole _iryou-nin_. Her teammates hadn't even participated in the brawl, per Genkei's request, but she was worried about the kids. Sakura somehow managed to get Mako to sit still long enough for her to check her earlier work on his left arm. Unlike last time she had healed the boy, Mako didn't even watch Sakura's work. He was staring at the other side of the fire, where Mei sat with Kaito's head cradled in her lap as the boy slumbered in peaceful unconsciousness.

"There," Sakura announced the completion of her task even though she doubted Mako was actually paying attention.

Mako turned at the sound of her voice and glanced down at his arm, studying the line of pink scar tissue. Then, he raised his head and met Sakura's eyes.

"Thanks, Sakura-chan," he said simply.

Sakura almost frowned at him—he was far too young to be addressing her so informally—but then decided it didn't matter when Mako ignored her reaction and stood up to cross the campsite and plop down decidedly next to Mei and Kaito. Sakura couldn't decide whether the three of them most resembled a loving family or an extremely well-balanced shinobi team.

Sakura rose to her feet and made her way around the fire to the three kids who belonged to the god of thunder. Genkei had said that she wouldn't be able to do anything, but Sakura refused to believe it. She hadn't been trained by the greatest medic of the age for nothing, and she wouldn't let a boy suffer when she might be able to help him.

"Rain, rain, go away," Mei was singing softly. "Come again another day."

She stopped and looked up suddenly at Sakura when she noticed the woman standing next to her. Sakura smiled down at the slight girl.

"That's a pretty song," she declared and sank to her knees beside Mei.

"_Sensei_ sings it sometimes when it rains." Mei just looked down at the boy in her lap sadly.

Sakura's heart twinged at the sight. Mei's face, so calm and yet so concerned, reminded Sakura of herself when she still had boys to take care of. What a messed up excuse for childhood shinobi gave their descendants.

"Not always," Mako retorted. "It rains more than he sings."

"It's Ame no Kuni," explained a rough voice above Sakura. "It's always raining. I can't be singing every time it rains."

"Hey," Mako called in a far more submissive tone than Sakura had yet heard from him. "Is he supposed to be still sleeping, _sensei_?"

Sakura glanced up quickly, but Genkei was already lowering himself to set cross-legged on the ground across from Mei with his back to the fire. Sakura almost resented the man encroaching on her space while she worked, but she was beginning to understand that Genkei was as stubborn as any man she had ever met, including Sasuke. She deliberately ignored him and laid her hands flat on Kaito's clothed chest for a preliminary diagnostic, a retort ready on her tongue for when Genkei told her to stay out of his affairs again.

"Not there."

Sakura frowned at the strange statement and tried to read Genkei's expression. It certainly wasn't what she was expecting from the man. Genkei kept his eyes on Sakura as his chin lifted in a half-nod toward his student.

"On his neck," commanded Genkei. "By his shoulder."

Hesitantly, Sakura moved her hands up the boy's body and around his neck while Mei continued to support Kaito's head so that Sakura could work. Circling around the boy's neck, Sakura's hands carefully took note of Kaito's pulse before she pushed back his collar and saw a dark mark on the boy's skin at the juncture of his left shoulder and his neck. The three tomoe looked familiar in a way that made Sakura's stomach sink. It wasn't quite the same as the _Ten no Juin_ that had decorated Sasuke's skin for three years, but it almost looked like the same symbol.

The seal was surrounded by a ring of black ink, like someone had tattooed a barrier around it. Even stranger was the way a foreign source of chakra pulsed at the seal, like someone had already tried to heal Kaito. Sakura frowned as she probed at the foreign chakra. It shied away from the green-colored chakra that Sakura used, but it wasn't harmful as far as she could tell.

"He's gonna be okay, right?"

Sakura looked up to meet Mako's determined gaze. His eyes almost dared Sakura to answer him negatively, but she could see the underlying nervousness in his face all the same.

"He'll be fine," Sakura replied. "He just needs to rest."

The answer was actually more complicated than that, but Sakura reassured herself that at least she hadn't lied. Kaito's body was already replenishing his chakra reserves to combat the exhaustion that Sakura had initially been worried about. But she wanted to get him to Konoha. _Shishou_ had studied Orochimaru's curse seal intently from Sasuke's knowledge, and then there had been that refugee from Oto who followed Sasuke everywhere. Between the two sources, Konoha now knew more about Orochimaru's forbidden technique than any other hidden village except Otogakure itself.

"Don't worry, Mako," interjected Genkei. "Kaito's tougher than that."

Sakura shot the man a look. Genkei was the only one who got close to Kaito after the attack. The strange, foreign chakra in the boy's system had to be a product of whatever he had done.

"_Sensei_," Mei called suddenly. "You think Sakura-_hime_ is pretty, _ne_?"

Sakura stared wide-eyed at the girl, who was smiling innocently in the direction of the man she sometimes called 'Father.' Then Sakura turned suspicious eyes onto Genkei himself. The light-haired man was frozen with his eyes firmly fixed on Sakura. He was giving her that look again, where she felt like she was either one of Genkei's ghosts or one of Raiden's prey. Then, Genkei's mouth turned upwards into a soft smile, and all traces of discomfort disappeared.

"_Hai_, she is."

Mei stuck out her tongue stubbornly at Mako.

"Told you so," she taunted the boy. "_Sensei_ thinks she's pretty, too."

Sakura gaped at the exchange while she tried to decide if she was flattered or simply creeped out. Sensing a presence behind her, Sakura glanced up quickly to see Sasuke hovering over her shoulder. She wondered how long he had been present—Sasuke had a way of masking his chakra so that no one could tell where he was at times. Mako opened his mouth to fire a retort to Mei, but then a large hand came down on his head heavily. Mako lifted his eyes carefully to his _sensei_.

"Go put Kaito to bed," ordered Genkei without looking at the boy.

"Why?" demanded Mako. "He looks pretty darn comfy."

"'Cuz the grownups gotta talk." Genkei's eyes rose to Sasuke, and Sakura wondered if he had known the Uchiha was there all along.

"So, talk," Mako urged deliberately. "I won't say anything. You won't even notice I'm here."

"Shoo, _kouzu_, before I smack you." Genkei frowned at Mako.

"You wouldn't," declared the boy confidently. "You love me too much."

Genkei's hand suddenly rose from its resting place on Mako's head and slapped his palm across the back of the boy's head.

"Ow!" Mako cried, raising one hand to rub his abused crown. "Mean _sensei_."

"Years of practice."

Genkei's tone suggested he had repeated the banter many times, but his subsequent pose—with his elbows resting on his knees while his head hung low onto his chest—looked only tired.

"Go take care of them," Genkei ordered once more, quietly. "You've already heard this story."

Sakura saw the comprehension overtake Mako's face as he glanced from his _sensei_ to where Mei cradled Kaito on her lap.

"Okay," Mako agreed, subdued.

The boy knelt beside his fellow students and wrapped one arm around Kaito's back, supporting the boy's shoulders enough to sling Kaito's arm around his shoulders. With Mei heaving on Kaito's other side, Mako stood slowly and started for a collection of blankets beside the fire.

"Hey, since the dork's already asleep, will you let _me _rest on your lap, _mei mei_?" Mako asked jovially.

"Don't call him that, Mako-kun," the younger girl admonished.

"I got good kids, _ne_?"

Sakura turned to Genkei at his abrupt comment. His eyes were still on his students, following them as Mei and Mako helped Kaito lay down. Mei laid down next to the dark-haired boy, and Mako covered them both with a large blanket.

"I thought you said they weren't yours," Sakura protested suspiciously.

"They're mine." Genkei turned sharp eyes onto Sakura suddenly. "Family is more than just blood."

He stated it so seriously that Sakura didn't think to doubt him. Then Genkei looked up at Sasuke with a wide smile on his face, like a cat that had just swallowed someone's pet bird.

"Right, Uchiha?" Genkei queried.

Sakura was surprised at the amount of heat in Sasuke's answering glare. She knew Sasuke had been against the idea of hiring Raiden, but Sasuke's hate was usually displayed as only coldness. Raiden seemed to bring out Sasuke's emotions, not all of them good. But the man sitting by the fire only pouted like a child would at being denied a treat.

"_Maa_, so unfriendly," he sulked, crossing his arms.

Sakura was about to tell Genkei to stop antagonizing Sasuke—the man, for all his reputed power, acted like a five-year-old at times—when Shikamaru trudged up to stand beside Sasuke with a lit cigarette in his mouth.

"Is the kid okay?" he asked tersely.

From her peripheral, Sakura saw Kiba plant himself on the ground next to Genkei with Akamaru on the man's other side. Her team had effectively boxed the strange man in, so she supposed now would be the best time to voice her concerns. When Genkei couldn't run away.

"Kaito has Orochimaru's _Ten no Juin_," Sakura announced into the dark silence.

She could feel the sudden attention lavished on her with five simple words.

"He has _what_?" demanded Kiba hotly.

"You don't need to worry about it," Genkei suddenly announced blandly. "It's sealed."

Kiba's immediate response was to gape at Genkei while the two men standing over the party gazed down at him.

"Sealed?" Kiba repeated. "How do you know how to seal—"

"When I was young, Orochimaru attacked my village," Genkei interrupted him.

"Huh?"

Kiba's face faded from angered disbelief to absolute puzzlement. Sakura was more confused by the change in Genkei's attitude; as if Raiden was an entirely separate personality that came out only during times of stress or danger. It was Raiden's eyes, sharp and fierce, that turned onto Kiba, sparking with some undefined emotion.

"You wanted to know," he said, almost low enough to be accusing. The backlight of the fire behind him made his face shadowed and haggered. "His goal was our destruction, but we fought him off okay. But before he retreated, he killed the old man that watched out for us and put the curse seal on my brother."

Raiden hung his chin into his chest again wearily. His eyes, although focused on a specific point on the ground, did not see anything around him. He suddenly raised one hand and raked his fingers through his short hair.

"When I heard the snake was still alive, I went to kill him." His voice came out rushed when he stared again. "I only got as far as Asahi."

He looked up and, for some reason, decided to choose Sakura to address. His gray eyes looked darker with the shadows dancing over his face.

"That's where Kaito was," continued Raiden. "They were trying to corner him, prodding and chasing him like he was an animal instead of human. I got mad."

His eyes fell away at the final admission. Sakura could only stare. Tsunade had made her pour over the reports from Asahi only because they were such a puzzle. Some of the villagers had cuts or slashes across their bodies, consistent with a bladed weapon like a _katana_. But the majority of the bodies, including the shinobi, had no wounds or markings of any kind on them, according to witness accounts. Other than the fact that they were, indeed, dead, they were in remarkably good condition.

"You killed everyone in Asahi because you got mad?" Sakura spat out.

"Hey!"

The voice was sufficiently offended but nowhere near old enough to be Genkei's. Sakura peered around the high flames of the fire to where Mako sat up straight, glaring at the Konoha nin. Kaito was properly tucked under the blankets with Mei by his side. But Mei's eyes were opened wide, catching the firelight as she stared at the ensuing conversation that was not supposed to include her.

"Mako," Genkei called in exasperation, "if you're listening, you're not supposed to be talking."

He threw a glare over his shoulder at the boy.

"Shut up."

The boy's jaw snapped closed even as his glare shifted from the group surrounding Raiden to Raiden himself. But then Mako sunk back into the blankets and laid one hand over Mei's body. She shifted in the makeshift bed and turned her back on the grownups. Kiba shifted awkwardly beside Genkei before Shikamaru decided to ignore the little eavesdroppers.

"None of the Oto nin in Asahi were wounded," he observed plainly. "How did you kill them?"

"I stared them to death." Raiden's grin looked blood-thirsty in the darkness.

"We couldn't test their bodies for poison, but you—"

"Forget it," Raiden interrupted Shikamaru's conjecture with a harsh growl. "I'm the only one who can do it, and there's no way in _hell_ I'm telling you."

The anger in his eyes as he stared at Shikamaru wasn't going away. Sakura desperately searched for a new topic of conversation, but the others would want to know more about Raiden before the night was over. Then, Sakura remembered a mention earlier in the conversation.

"What happened to your brother?" questioned the young woman.

He seemed to care about that bond as deeply as he cared for his students, at least from his voice when he spoke of Orochimaru's attack. Raiden's eyes flickered over to Sakura then fell down to the ground in front of him again.

"A few weeks after Orochimaru's attack, he took my brother," Raiden explained quietly. "I don't think I can forgive him for that."

"That's why you hate him," Kiba exhaled in more of a statement than a question.

Raiden took a deep breath that made his chest expand beneath his shirt. He laced his fingers together and stretched out his hands in front of him, cracking his knuckles.

"Since I failed before, I guess now's as good a time as any to kill the bastard," he answered lightly. With his head cocked at a sharp angle to his head, Raiden looked up at Sasuke and grinned. "Unless you wanted another crack at it. Three years with him and you can't even manage to cut off the damn snake's head?"

Sasuke's jaw tightened almost imperceptibly as he returned Raiden's grin with an icy expression. Then, Sasuke turned on his heel and stomped into the darkness that surrounded them beyond the fire.

"Sasuke-kun," Sakura called after him.

Sasuke gave sign that he had heard her, but Sakura had half-expected that. She glanced up at Shikamaru to see if their so-called leader would make any comment, either about Raiden's insult or Sasuke's abandonment. Shikamaru just removed the cigarette from his mouth and blew a stream of smoke toward the fire. She rolled her eyes, deciding that Shikamaru wasn't going to say anything, and looked at Kiba instead. The fierce ninja was eyeing the man beside him strangely, as if uncomfortable with his proximity to such a dangerous man. That was strange in and of itself; Kiba never admitted he got uncomfortable, he just huffed until the problem went away so that he could rant about it freely.

Then, Sakura caught sight of Raiden's expression, and she froze. The light-haired man stared at Sasuke's retreating back, but there was no trace of smug triumph or glee at Sasuke's obvious anger. Instead, the corners of his mouth drooped down as his brows wrinkled slightly like he was puzzled or worried. _Worried_? Sakura quickly checked her thoughts. She could see how Raiden hated Orochimaru because of his brother; she could even see how he cared for his students. But Raiden had nothing to do with Sasuke. He shouldn't have been _worried_ about Sasuke. If anything, he should have hated the Uchiha for his past connection with Orochimaru.

Suddenly, Raiden's eyes shifted and caught Sakura studying him. His eyes widened so quickly it was almost comical, like a boy caught looking at something he would get slapped for. Before Sakura could expound on that thought, Raiden lowered his head and rubbed the knuckles of his right hand into his temple.

"I'm gonna hate this," he announced in a mutter. Then he raised his voice to an announcement: "I'm going to bed."

Sakura's eyes followed the man as he heaved himself to his feet and circled the crackling fire to where his three kids lay huddled among the blankets. Raiden knelt down next to the bodies calmly, bending his head to whisper something unheard to Mako. For as skilled as he was, Raiden had to have felt her eyes on him, but he never once looked at Sakura as he lay down next to his students and promptly starting breathing heavily.

Sakura wrapped her arms around her stomach and grabbed her sides for some semblance of comfort. Maybe Sasuke had been right. This Raiden might have been strong completely willing to go to war against Orochimaru for them, but was turning out to be more nerve-wracking than Sakura thought she could tolerate.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke woke first in the party; not surprising since he had been living on his guard from the time he was thirteen. He rose from his sleeping bag and packed his things quietly. The fire was already dead, and the party around it quiet. Genkei lay on the opposite side of the ash pit with his two boys beside him. The youngest, Mei, had moved from her sleeping place beside the boys to curl up next to Akamaru.

Shikamaru rose next and kicked at Kiba's feet to wake the Inuzuka. Sasuke saw Sakura get up and brush back her hair into some semblance of orderliness.

"Go get Raiden," commanded Shikamaru to the stretching Kiba. "He wanted to be in Konoha by today."

Kiba finished a wide yawn that showed all of his molars. The dog-like ninja closed his mouth with a grimace that he then directed at Shikamaru.

"Why do I always gotta be the one to wake him up?" he demanded.

"Because all you have to do is bark in his ear," Sasuke retorted immediately.

He rarely spat out insults at the same rate as he remembered doing long ago, but sometimes Sasuke just needed to. Just as a way to release tension.

Predictably, Kiba spun to face Sasuke and scowled. But Sakura snapped to Kiba, and the young man turned away with a huff. Sasuke returned to his packing as Kiba shot Akamaru a sharp glare.

"When did you become a wimp?" Kiba demanded.

Akamaru just cocked his head at his master then turned his large muzzle to watch the small girl curled at his side. Kiba circled the dead fire, past where Sakura was already rolling up her own sleeping bag, and stood over the body of a light-haired man with a tattoo just under his right eye. The two boys, Kaito and Mako, were still sleeping beside him. Warily, Kiba nudged Genkei with the toe of his foot then quickly withdrew it. Genkei just flopped on his back and raised one hand to rub at his left eye like a sleepy kid.

"Hmph," grumbled the man. "'S it morning?"

The contrast from the interrogation last night to Raiden's sleepy morning voice was enough to make Sasuke shove the rest of his belongings in his small pack and watch the ensuing conversation. Kiba looked down at the man by his feet and frowned

"I thought you were too dangerous to wake up," Kiba admitted.

Genkei just sat up and rolled his shoulders back, placing one hand on the ground behind him to support his weight.

"You mean the balancing?" Genkei confirmed.

That marked the second time Sasuke had heard that word in conjunction with Raiden. Kiba apparently knew more about the circumstances than anyone, but Sasuke had already determined it had something to do with the eyes—and the ensuing power—that Raiden had displayed yesterday before the fight with the Oto genin.

"If I'm doing that, I have to be perfectly still," explained Genkei. "It's a way to draw power from my surroundings. That's how I could sense the Oto genin."

Genkei stood and tossed the blanket aside to flop onto the two boys. Mako mumbled something under his breath and turned to his side while Kaito remained motionless on his back.

"Is that how you changed your scent, too?" Kiba demanded, his voice suddenly harsher.

Sasuke looked over at Genkei and waited for his answer. He noticed that Shikamaru had paused in his actions to listen as well. Genkei just stooped down to pick up his red coat from where it lay on the ground and shrugged his arms into the garment.

"Nope," he answered shortly. "Hey, I gotta favor to ask."

Genkei spun to face Kiba directly. The man would have to be blind not to notice Sasuke, Shikamaru, and now Sakura as well watching him talk with Kiba as if nothing was wrong.

"A favor?" Inuzuka repeated.

"Yeah. Kaito's still wounded, and I don't think Mei-chan wants to let go of her new friend." Genkei gestured to Mei, still sleeping again Akamaru's side. "Can your partner give them a ride the rest of the way?"

"Sure," Kiba replied with a shrug, obviously undisturbed given the simplicity of the request.

"You mean Akamaru?" Sakura spoke up, inserting herself into the conversation.

Kiba and Genkei both looked at the young woman quickly. Genkei eyed Sakura hesitantly before he raised one hand to gesture to the large white dog with red ears.

"Yeah, I meant Akamaru."

"I've only heard members of the Inuzuka clan call their dogs their partners," Sakura noted in a voice that was far too calm.

Kiba's eyes widened suddenly, and he snapped his head back to stare at Genkei accusingly.

"Hey, that's right!"

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes at the obliviousness of the Inuzuka, but he was too focused on Genkei's reaction. The smile had slipped off the man's jovial face as his eyes fell to the ground.

"How'd you know something like that?" Kiba demanded to know.

"It's no big deal," Genkei answered as he waved one hand through the air. "I worked with a couple ninja who used dogs to track before I was Raiden."

"How'd you get to be Raiden?" Shikamaru interjected.

The jounin-leader's posture had suggested he wasn't listening to the conversation, but Sasuke knew better than to assume anything got past Shikamaru's notice. The light-haired Genkei looked up, unsurprised.

"I kept an octopus from being eaten by a shark."

Answer delivered, Genkei proceeded to crouch down and shake Mako's shoulder vigorously.

"Wake up, _kouzu_," ordered Genkei.

Mako groaned as he rolled over. He peeled his eyes open and squinted up at his _sensei_.

"Time to go," he informed the boy.

"Wha 'bout Kaito?" Mako sat up slowly beside his friend.

"Let him sleep." Genkei stood, pulling the large scroll with him. "Go help Mei-chan get ready."

Mako stood obediently, scratching the back of his neck as he trudged toward the sleeping girl. Genkei slipped the thick strap attached to the scroll over his head and shoulder so that the large scroll sat crookedly against his back. Slowly, he walked around the fire, watching the other adults pack up their own things.

"Raiden," Sakura greeted him quietly as she stood.

"I wish you'd stop calling me that, Sakura-chan." The man smiled again. "Just Genkei is fine."

Sasuke stood as well, needing to be acknowledged by this man who knew more than he should about all of Sasuke's weak points. Raiden was the one who kept bringing up topics like Orochimaru and the loss of Sasuke's family, both blood-related and otherwise.

"Raiden," he growled and told himself that reminding Raiden that he existed wasn't his only purpose for joining the conversation.

Raiden glared at Sasuke, annoyed and unafraid to show it.

"Don't suppose I'll get you to call me anything _but_ that," grumbled the young man. He threw up his hands suddenly in disgust. "C'mon! It's not a real name. I didn't even come up with it."

"Who did?" Sasuke demanded.

Raiden's eyes focused on Sasuke, suddenly wary. Sasuke could almost see the thoughts racing through the man's mind behind his guarded eyes. Finally, Raiden looked away, his gaze falling to where Mako was tenderly tucking Mei onto Akamaru's back.

"Raikage," Raiden answered. "He thought it was funny that I beat one of the Akatsuki with a storm."

"Akatsuki?" Sakura repeated, surprised.

Sasuke's mind raced. It was an unconfirmed rumor—but a generally believed one—that Raiden had killed the leader of Akatsuki, Pein. But then, Raiden's cryptic comment shed some light on that, as well. The Akatsuki member that had traveled around with Itachi—Sasuke still couldn't think that name without a dark hand clenching his heart—he had had all the appearance of a shark out of water. Raiden had beaten _him_ as well?

"What business did you have with Akatsuki?" challenged Sasuke.

Raiden let out a scoff that was more a huff of breath, although the grin he bore when he turned back to Sasuke was nothing short of mocking.

"You don't do much socializing, d'ya, _teme_?"

Sasuke had been called worse things than a bastard for far longer than he had known Raiden, but the man's insult still drove him to dig his fingernails into his palm to keep himself from reaching for the storage seals on his forearms. But then, Raiden sighed and rubbed one hand across the back of his neck, below where the bandanna was tied.

"I needed to kill Pein," he declared in a dead voice.

"Needed to? Why?" Sakura interjected.

Raiden shrugged and shoved his hands into his pockets.

"I knew about Akatsuki for years," Raiden continued. "I knew what they were after. But I was distracted for a long time. Then I found out that Pein was the one who killed my _sensei_. For a while, I really did want to kill him."

Sasuke knew that feeling: ice cold flooding alternating with a hatred that burned through his veins until he couldn't see anything but his goal in front of him. And then, he had finished it. He had killed, defeated, the one who caused him so much pain—killed the killer of his family. And it didn't matter. The killer—his _brother_—was dead, and his family was still gone, and he still felt empty inside when he thought of that. And he didn't know if that was the worst feeling or if it had been working for retribution he would never get. He would never avenge his best friend's killer because this man already had. For the same reason Sasuke had wanted to:

"Vengeance," Sasuke accused.

"Yeah." Raiden nodded easily. "That wasn't it in the end, though."

"Why not?" pressed Sakura when Raiden fell silent. "What was it?"

Again, Raiden only shrugged as if the answer didn't matter.

"Just something I had to do," he answered quietly. A sad smile crossed his face then disappeared just as quickly as Raiden turned to Sakura. "Did you know he was going to use the _bijuu_ to make the world submit to him? He really thought he was a god."

Raiden crossed his arms over his chest and gave the slowly-lightening sky above him a thoughtful glance.

"I had to kill him," Raiden repeated. "I had to stop what he was doing. In the end, he didn't get his final _jinchuuriki_."

Sasuke frowned and decided he didn't care for the casual way Raiden spoke of both the criminal organization that was responsible for such chaos, especially for Konoha, as well as the ultimate goal of said organization.

"Well, his final two," Raiden amended. "He never _did_ get the Nine-Tails."

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke ignored Sakura's urgent cry and wrapped one hand in Raiden's collar and dragged the man within a breath's space of his own face.

"_Never_ call him that," he growled.

Raiden was about as tall as Sasuke, maybe a couple centimeters shorter. Either way, his face bore only surprise at Sasuke's sudden hatred.

"Why not? It's true." Raiden's voice was blank, and Sasuke hated him that much more for forgetting that what Akatsuki was after were humans.

Then Raiden looked into Sasuke's red eyes—and he couldn't even remember when he had activated his bloodline—and suddenly, Raiden's face melted into shock. A small, sardonic voice in the back of Sasuke's mind noted that it was a bit late for Raiden to show any kind of fear of Sasuke.

"You meant—" Raiden cut himself off and frowned in utter confusion at Sasuke's angry glare. "You're defending the _host_?"

"He _had_ a name."

Sasuke could never forget that. Not when he could remember the name carved into the memorial stone in perfect detail every time he allowed his mind to wander. Thus, no one else was allowed to forget it, either.

Raiden's hand flew up and pried Sasuke's grip loose from the front of his shirt as he jerked away from Sasuke. Sasuke glared back at the man, still inexorably mad and fully ready to defend his views with his fists, but Raiden stared at Sasuke with the most bewildered look on his face Sasuke had ever seen. It was a combination of confusion, shock, and absolute disbelief. Sasuke's rage simmered into indignation; was it so unbelievable to this man that the host of a _bijuu_ was a person first? Someone with friends and family who would miss him if he was gone?

"_Sensei_," Mako called suddenly. "I need help with Kaito."

Raiden's face snapped from Sasuke to Mako.

"Yeah."

Genkei rubbed his palm hard against his forehead and back over his head. He shook his head vigorously as if he wanted to shake his thoughts straight out of his ears.

"Yeah," Genkei repeated. "Gimme a second, Mako."

Sasuke's eyes still watched the man as he moved away from Sasuke and Sakura to the only remaining sleeping figure still wrapped in blankets. Then, Shikamaru approached Sasuke with purposeful steps. Sasuke deliberately turned away and crouched beside his pack again.

"Leave it alone, Uchiha," Sasuke commanded.

"Shikamaru," Sakura hurried to his rescue, "Sasuke wasn't—"

"Why should I?" Sasuke rose quickly to face Shikamaru.

He didn't need anyone telling him to trust a man he refused to trust. Shikamaru opened his mouth to explain, or perhaps he was just going to order Sasuke to refrain from being troublesome until they actually reached the village.

"Just so you know, Sasuke," the soft voice forced Sasuke's attention onto Genkei. "I _know_ he had a name. I even remember what it was."

**o0O0o**

The trip had been silent, for the most part. Naruto guessed that no one really wanted to talk anymore after the fight that emphasized the fact that they were still fighting a war, followed by an explanation that connected the man known as Genkei more with Orochimaru than with Konoha. Kiba kept throwing suspicious glares back at Genkei, and Naruto was pretty sure that Sasuke now hated him more than ever.

That had just been weird: to realize that Sasuke was defending his memory to someone he thought was putting Uzumaki Naruto down for being a _jinchuuriki_. Naruto had been more shocked that Sasuke, who never got angry on anyone's behalf, had nearly attacked him just because Naruto was referring to _Kyuubi_. And then the knowledge that Naruto wouldn't ever get to acknowledge Sasuke for defending him had made Naruto shut up to keep from being just that happy.

Naruto shifted Mako's weight on his back and kept leaping through the tree branches. The sun had already gone down some time ago; it was probably closer to midnight than daylight anymore. The silence and tension made it feel like they had been running forever. Mako's endurance had given out sometime after the sun had gone down and finally agreed to ride on his _sensei_'sback. Kaito and Mei were still on Akamaru, although Mei was already sleeping and Kaito was quickly nodding off as he tried to cradle Mei's body with his own. Naruto had refused any suggestions that they stop. He wanted to be in Konoha. No more camping out of doors, especially with Kaito injured and Mei tired.

Then, Kiba leapt from his place at the front of the team onto the grass below the trees. Shikamaru followed immediately after him, and Naruto landed on the grass beside the genius.

"We're here," Shikamaru announced.

Sure enough, Naruto marched ahead until he stood next to Kiba looking at the large earthen wall that surrounded the hidden village of Konoha. Despite his mask, Naruto felt his shoulders relax as all the air in his lungs escaped in one relieved sigh.

"Whazzat?" Mako murmured sleepily in Naruto's ear.

"Hold on, Mako, and we'll get you in a real bed," Naruto called back to the boy.

"'S okay." The boy rubbed his head against Naruto's shoulder. "I drooled on your shirt."

"Brat," Naruto huffed without malice. Mako knew him too well for that.

Shikamaru took the lead once Sakura and Sasuke joined the rest on the ground. He walked up to the giant gates embedded in the wall and conversed quietly with the chuunin on guard. Naruto didn't recognize the young man, but he looked older than Shikamaru. After a few whispered words and a study of a scroll Shikamaru held, the guard opened a small door built into the gates, wide enough for them to march through single file. Naruto followed Akamaru through the door and entered Konoha.

Even for as long as he had been gone, everything looked exactly as Naruto had expected it to. The Hokage Tower was still lit up like a beacon beneath the mountain where the old leaders oversaw their home. Even that old electricity pole was in the same place as Naruto remembered. Naruto heard the door close again behind Sasuke and made a decision.

"I gotta letcha down, Mako," Naruto announced.

Mako mumbled something that was either a protest or an agreement—Naruto couldn't tell which. Naruto grabbed Mako's wrist and leaned back, trying not to let the combined weight of the boy as well as the large scroll settled just above his butt unbalance him. But then he felt Mako take his own weight and knew the boy had reached the ground. Naruto released Mako's hands and turned around. Mako was rubbing the heel of his hand into his eye and shaking his head. Naruto laid one hand on Mako's back just in case the boy decided to take a nap in the middle of the street.

"I can walk," protested Mako.

Naruto smiled at the familiar stubbornness.

"Sure, you work on that for a while." He patted Mako's back a couple times and turned to the darkened streets of the village, ignoring the look he got from Kiba.

"Where are you going?" demanded the Inuzuka.

"I want to see something," Naruto answered honestly.

He took a running start and darted straight up the electricity pole that stood on the edge of the street. Dodging the lines that trailed from the top of the pole to the nearest building, Naruto landed on the top of the pole and surveyed the village. He could see the market and shops along the main street, all dark and closed for the night. There was the hospital to his right, and the apartment building he had lived in after returning with Ero-Sennin. He even thought he could see the traditional buildings of the Hyuuga family holdings in the far corner of Konoha, next to where the wall curved into the mountain. Naruto breathed in deeply, smelling the slightly stale air of a city combined with a trace of smoke from where people had fires burning at night. And beyond that, the smell of dark earth and wet leaves, like the height of summer after a good rain. Naruto grinned.

It was good to be home.

* * *

A/N: New chapter up and on time, and the group has finally made it to Konoha. Phew! All downhill from here. Yeah, right.

I can't think of anything I really need to explain from this chapter. You get a little bit of insight into Genkei/Raiden's relationship with Orochimaru, although if you can't figure out who the brother is in Genkei's story, you haven't been paying attention to Naruto CU. As for Kaito, I think it's perfectly logical for Orochimaru to be continuously refining his favorite underhanded jutsu, so Kaito's curse seal doesn't look exactly the same as Sasuke's did. Naruto—in my story—also has the tools to keep it at bay a bit. If you're curious, I got a lot of inspiration for Naruto's curse-sapping seal from Curse Seal Concepts by ObsidianSickle on DeviantArt.

I think that's it. I'll be back next month with Naruto in Konoha and actually meeting people he hasn't seen in four years. Fun, fun.

Sincerely,

Fia

_Doton: Doryuu Heki_ – A B-ranked defensive Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and then spew a line of mud onto the ground. The mud will then grow into a large mud wall to help defend against incoming attack. Kakashi will use the jutsu by placing his hands on the ground. This causes an earthen wall marked by canine heads to rise.

_Moguragakure no Jutsu_ – A C-ranked Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. This technique allows the ninja to burrow into the ground and hide out of sight. This allows them to avoid attack or travel underground. Tobi used this jutsu to place Deidara's C2 Doragon spheres underground.


	6. In Which It Shines

Chapter 5: In Which It Shines

_Better than a feast elsewhere is a meal at home of tea and rice._

~ Japanese folk saying

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru watched the man perched on the top of the electric pole and thought. Raiden, who for some reason preferred to be called Genkei, had a history that didn't quite match up with anything Shikamaru knew. He claimed that his brother had been used as one of Orochimaru's vessels, which made sense; but unless Orochimaru had upped his timetable, he only switched human bodies once every three years. Raiden hadn't become a power to be reckoned with until only a few years ago. If the brother he was avenging had been captured after Orochimaru's return, it was likely the attack had happened shortly after Orochimaru had resurrected in Kabuto's body, after Sasuke had left Otogakure thinking the snake was dead.

But that theory didn't give Raiden much time to grow from a boy who had let his brother be taken to a man who had wiped out an entire village because he got mad. There were stranger things, Shikamaru knew, but it still left enough holes that he was content to ponder other eventualities.

Raiden could have lost his brother at a younger age, before the three years that Sasuke was seen as the snake's next vessel. That meant it was more likely that Raiden came from Ta no Kuni itself, when Orochimaru was still establishing his new shinobi organization. It would explain why Orochimaru was so desperate to recruit Raiden if the man had originally been a part of the snake's ranks. But that didn't explain how Raiden knew so much about Konoha. He was familiar not only with Sasuke's story but also with Inuzuka behaviors, which wouldn't happen if he was a genin under Orochimaru. The man was a puzzle, and Shikamaru didn't have all the pieces.

"What are you doing?" Shikamaru called over to the man.

He was standing on a roof just beside the electric pole; he didn't really want to leave Raiden alone for any period of time. Raiden continued to stare at the city below him.

"Looking," he answered obviously.

"I have to deliver you to the Hokage."

Shikamaru had informed Tsunade of Raiden's decision, as well as the three unexpected tagalongs in a brief missive he sent the first day they had been traveling. He also promised to bring Raiden to the Godaime Hokage as soon as they made it into Konoha. Tsunade would want to see him, anyway. Raiden scoffed and turned his head to Shikamaru in the night.

"You make me sound like a package," he complained.

Despite his words, Raiden jumped from the pole to the roof beside Shikamaru and stood calmly.

"All right," Raiden agreed. "But the kids are still sleeping. Or almost sleeping."

He amended the last part with a glance toward the lightest boy back on the ground. Shikamaru followed his gaze to see both Kiba and Sakura surrounding the three kids. Mei and Kaito were still perched on Akamaru, and Mako stood beside them with Sakura's hand on his shoulder, supporting him. Only Sasuke stood apart, staring up at Shikamaru and Raiden as if he were seconds away from joining them.

"The others can help your students to the hospital," announced Shikamaru. It was the most logical place for a couple of kids who had just been in a fight.

"Yeah, and Sasuke-teme will just go his merry way," Raiden grumbled, still peering into the street. "Ya get the feeling he doesn't like me?"

Raiden turned to look at Shikamaru again, but the jounin kept his eyes on the scene below him. He hoped Raiden wouldn't figure out that Shikamaru was looking away only so the _nuke-nin_ couldn't see Shikamaru's mind racing. There was something about the man's manner of speech; his way of talking felt familiar to Shikamaru. But all explanations that his mind immediately came up with were just as quickly dismissed as impossible.

Shikamaru closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose. His brain was working on too little sleep and too much activity to think properly about this. He needed sleep. He needed to study his _shōgi_ board until things starting making sense again. He needed a _cigarette_.

"Guess we should go before Mako falls asleep on his feet," Raiden declared suddenly.

Shikamaru peeled his eyes open again and caught a glimpse of Raiden's deep red coat as the man jumped from the building to the ground again. The leader of the four-man team sighed and followed. The sooner he gave his team its orders and presented Raiden to Tsunade, the sooner he could think without any distractions.

**o0O0o**

The desk in the Hokage office was shockingly clear of paperwork. Godaime Hokage Senju Tsunade had only a scroll in front of her as well as the neatly folded note from Shikamaru about the state of his mission: successful. The scroll, still rolled and set on one corner of her desk, contained the legal contract that was drawn up in anticipation of the mission's success. Much of the ninja council that met only in times of distress had opposed the mission; Tsunade could think of several ninja who shared their viewpoint. But Tsunade knew Orochimaru's strengths better than almost anyone in the village. He always had a way prepared to avoid death. Even if they didn't end up using him for the final blow, Raiden would be a great asset.

"Ah, am I late?"

Tsunade looked up at the lazy question posed by the man perched in the window that overlooked the village from the office. Tsunade rolled her eyes without looking over her shoulder.

"What are you doing here, Kakashi?" she demanded.

"I heard Shikamaru's team just returned from their mission," answered Kakashi.

Tsuande turned around, then, and frowned as Kakashi settled himself on the windowsill and crossed his arms, looking perfectly comfortable.

"And what business is that of yours? Last time I checked, I still had the hat."

Kakashi had been suggested to succeed her as Hokage a couple times now. The first time had been directly after Pein's attack on Konoha. Tsunade had been severely injured trying to defend her village, and the _daimyo_ was a little nervous at the prospect of possible war with Akatsuki. But then Akatsuki had been silent, except for an attack somewhere in Kaminari no Kuni and finally the death of Pein, and there was no need for a new Hokage. In the window, Kakashi smiled.

"I just thought I'd see how my students did on their mission," he said reassuringly.

Tsunade turned back to her desk and huffed. More than likely, Kakashi was hoping for the first news about Sasuke and his performance. Even with his recent promotion to jounin, Sasuke was not given many missions outside of Konoha. People were still wondering how Tsunade had dared to send the young man to Asahi for a reconnaissance report. But Tsunade knew she had to take advantage of all the resources available to her, even if one was a reformed traitor that few still trusted.

The double doors to the Hokage office opened silently, and Shikamaru walked in, leading a man of shorter height—if not slightly thicker build—in behind him. The light-haired man glanced around the office only once. Although Tsunade knew that once would be enough for any seasoned ninja to scope out the exact strengths, weaknesses, and exits of a given room, Raiden hardly looked old enough to be _that _seasoned.

"Hokage-sama," Shikamaru greeted and halted in front of Tsunade's desk. "This is Raiden."

Raiden tilted his head to one side, making him look more like a kid than a dangerous _nuke-nin_, and smiled widely at Tsunade. Then his eyes caught sight of the gray-haired man perched in Tsunade's window, and his eyebrows lifted dramatically.

"Raiden, I'm pleased you agreed to come to Konoha," Tsunade began professionally.

She remained seated; she refused to give Raiden any quarter, especially in her own home. But the way the man continued to stare at Kakashi was slightly off. Maybe Kakashi's presence could help her after all.

"This is Hatake Kakashi, one of Konoha's jounin." Tsunade lifted one hand to indicate the shinobi behind her.

"No kidding," muttered Raiden.

Tsunade suspected that Raiden had heard of Kakashi before. The man did have a fearsome reputation outside of Konoha as one of only two remaining ninja alive who could use the Sharingan. She would have to quiz Kakashi later on if he had actually met Raiden, or if the young man was impressed solely with Kakashi's reputation.

"Nara-san has explained the terms of the contract we are prepared to offer?" questioned Tsunade, getting down to business.

Raiden scratched his temple with one forefinger and glanced at Shikamaru from the corner of his eye.

"I got the gist of it in Hafuko," he answered.

"We still need your complete understanding for legal purposes." Tsunade unrolled the contract Shizune had prepared for the missing nin to sign.

"You mean for paperwork," Raiden chuckled.

Tsunade frowned up at him, but Raiden had simply replaced his hands in his pockets and stood there, waiting expectantly.

"So," Tsunade began, "you agree to fight for Konohagakure in the Oto-Konoha war for its duration or until your death."

"Happy thought," muttered the shinobi in front of her without much enthusiasm.

Tsunade ignored the interruption and continued.

"Your payment will consist of diplomatic immunity within Konoha—"

"Yeah, leave that part out, will ya?" Raiden suddenly interrupted. He waved one hand in front of him as if he would chase the words right out of the air around him.

Tsunade looked up and raised an eyebrow at the young man, but it was Kakashi, still leaning lazily against the window frame, who voiced the question.

"You want to renegotiate now?" the jounin inquired.

Raiden glanced over, unconcerned, at Kakashi as if he had suddenly changed his mind about Copy-nin Hatake and thought the jounin to be dull.

"My _shishou_ was a hermit," Raiden answered with a shrug. "I know how to hide."

"That seems to contradict the fact that we still found you," noted Shikamaru.

The Nara raised a lighter to his mouth and flared the end of the cigarette already between his lips. Tsunade didn't have either the authority or the heart to keep him from smoking in her office.

"And Inuzuka still has no idea what I really smell like," Raiden snapped back with more force than his lazing figure suggested he felt. "I _know_ how to hide."

Tsunade studied Raiden carefully and frowned. Shikamaru was authorized to make one offer, the one the contract demanded, and Raiden had come to Konoha anyway. Why was he renegotiating now? They couldn't keep him without some sort of contract to bind him to Konoha. Shinobi weren't typically men of their word—well, there had been that _one_ kid—but they were practical. They would do a job for appropriate compensation; that's how _nuke-nin_ usually managed to continue living, as long as the hunter nin didn't catch them.

"You decided you want money?" Tsunade suggested.

"From the Legendary Sucker?" Raiden's face broke into an amused grin. "No, thanks."

Tsunade glared right back and wondered why the thought of getting paid was so distasteful to him. She had paid back all her debts once she was named Godaime.

"Here." Raiden's right hand suddenly flew out of his pocket, flipping a small object into the air. "My demands."

Despite the sudden tension she could feel from both Shikamaru and Kakashi, Tsunade snatched the flying scroll without hesitation. She doubted it was anything dangerous. It didn't even have a chakra seal to keep it closed, just a plain blob of cold wax. She held it up in the dim light and kept her eyes trained on Raiden. The grin that he shot her in return was a strange cross between a boy putting on a brave face and a cat who had just swallowed a pet bird.

Tsunade peeled back the edge of the paper and immediately read a neatly printed name at the top of the scroll. Unwrapping the scroll further revealed two more names, as well as all the information one would expect in a bingo book.

"What are . . ?"

"You were willing to offer me refuge," Raiden explained when Tsunade didn't finish her question. "Give it to them instead."

Tsunade looked up at him again, but Raiden was all seriousness suddenly. She looked down again at the names: two boys and a girl. That was the ratio that Shikamaru had described for Raiden's three students.

"You want Konoha to take in three kids from Ame no Kuni?" she confirmed.

"Mei's the only one from Ame no Kuni." Raiden crossed his arms over his broad chest. "And even Jun will say she's mine. The war made her an orphan, so I took her in. She didn't have anyone else."

Tsunade connected the name he had mentioned to Shimada Jun, the current leader of Ame no Kuni. A part of her was impressed that Raiden was so close to someone in such a high position, but a larger part of her wondered at the way Ame just gave up one of its citizens.

"And the boys?" she pressed.

"Mako's from Hi no Kuni," answered Raiden. "I found him in Tankuza Gai, but I'm pretty sure he grew up in your orphanage under that name there."

Tsunade skimmed over the top name on the scroll again and determined to have Shizune look through the orphanage records for him.

"The last one is from Ta no Kuni and bears the _Ten no Juin_," Shikamaru interjected suddenly.

Tsunade's gaze snapped to Raiden for confirmation. Shikamaru's brief note from Ame had not mentioned a curse seal or any connection the kids had with Oto. She felt Kakashi shift behind her, but she couldn't afford to turn around. Taking her eyes off Raiden would negate the power she charged in her stare. It always worked with the tiny genin who complained about their missions, at any rate. But, Raiden simply stared at the floor darkly as his shoulders drooped.

"Tattletale," he hissed at Shikamaru.

"Your student has Orochimaru's Heaven Seal?" Tsunade demanded.

Raiden's chest expanded as he inhaled slowly and met Tsunade's eyes.

"I'm hoping you can help with that," he answered calmly. "I found Kaito in Ta no Kuni and took him out of the country. As soon as I had time, I took care of the seal, but it's a temporary fix."

"What fix?" asked Tsunade.

"It's a variation of the _Fuuja Houin_. Plus a couple other things I made up. It's all there." He nodded at the scroll in Tsunade's hands. "I'd like a seal master to look at it once you've made your diagnosis."

"I'm be willing to do so, Tsunade-sama," Kakashi immediately volunteered.

Tsunade nodded. Kakashi was a logical choice. It had been his student originally who first had to deal with Orochimaru's cursed seal, and he had been heavily involved in both making sure Sasuke was free of Orochimaru's influence and studying the young refugee from Oto, Juugo.

"You—" Raiden began then suddenly thought better of voicing his opinion.

"Problem, Raiden?" Tsunade asked innocently.

Raiden stared at Kakashi, and Tsunade was slightly disappointed that she couldn't evaluate his expression. It was a hard stare but carried no animosity in it. Maybe Raiden hadn't fought with Kakashi in the past after all.

"No," Raiden finally answered. "I guess with your lineage, it makes sense."

"My lineage?" Kakashi cocked an eyebrow up into his _hitai-ate_.

Tsunade's own mind echoed the sentiment. Raiden looked young enough not to have any personal experience with Konoha's White Fang, Hatake Sakumo.

"Your _sensei_ or your student, take your pick." Raiden turned his head away from the Copy-nin. "Power tends to run in lines."

He wasn't wrong. Tsunade herself was an example of that: granddaughter of the Shodai Hokage, grand-niece of the Niidaime, and student of the Sandaime. Kakashi's _sensei_ had been a seal master along the ranks of Jiraiya—maybe better—while one of his students had to deal with Orochimaru's seal and another bore the burden of a human sacrifice up till his death. Tsunade briefly wondered which of the two boys Raiden was referring to.

"You know more about that seal than anyone except Orochimaru, and I'm _not_ going to him," Raiden declared firmly.

Tsunade studied the man again. It was well-known that Raiden was considered an enemy of Orochimaru, but no one knew more than that. Then, Tsunade caught Shikamaru's eyes. Lifting one hand to his cigarette, the genius jounin stared at his Hokage with sharp, focused eyes. Shikamaru knew something. Tsunade looked back at Raiden, who seemed to be composing himself.

"Just take care of them," he finished.

Tsunade rolled the scroll back up with a flip of her wrist.

"You want these kids taken care of?" she confirmed.

Raiden nodded.

"If they're wards of Konoha, I won't worry." He placed his hands back into his pockets. "I know what Sarutobi thought of his kids."

Tsunade stared at the man again. First, he knew Kakashi and now Hiruzen-sensei?

"So, can I go see 'em?" Raiden rocked back and forth on his heels a bit, like a hyperactive kid.

"Where are they?" asked Kakashi. Tsunade suspected that mention of his lineage had piqued Kakashi's curiosity.

"Sakura took them and the rest of the team to the hospital to get checked out," answered Shikamaru.

Tsunade nodded. It was standard procedure now that any team returning from a B-ranked mission or higher needed to check in with the hospital upon return to the village. The probability for injury was higher with higher ranked missions, and Tsunade wanted to keep her shinobi alive. She finally turned enough to look at the man sitting in her window—well, standing next to her window, by now.

"Kakashi will take you over to the hospital," she ordered.

She pinned Shikamaru with a hard look as she turned back to Raiden. She was going to get a full oral report as soon as Raiden was out of her office, and the lazy-ass ninja was _not _getting out of that.

"So," Kakashi started as he led Raiden back to the double doors. "Since you already know my legacy, what about yours, Raiden-san?"

"Mine?" Raiden repeated.

"Where did your power come from?"

"Not from _Raiton_, I can tell ya that," Raiden laughed. "I suck at Lightning."

Tsunade filed the careless comment away for further study. Information was vital to a ninja, and no one knew much about Raiden. She looked up at Shikamaru, who for once had his full attention focused directly on the Hokage.

"Tsunade."

Raiden stood at the door, looking over his shoulder back into the office.

"One more condition," he announced to the dark room. "Don't call me Raiden."

**o0O0o**

_He is standing in the street with no shoes. His feet are bleeding, and they hurt, like knives in his soles every time he steps down. But he knows the figures around him won't let him leave._

_ "You're just a pet," snaps one figure with a dark voice._

_ He can't see their faces, but it doesn't matter. He knows what they want from him._

_ "Why are you free like this?"_

_ "You should be in a cage until Orochimaru-sama needs you."_

_ The voices blend and overlap. Then he is running with no destination. He is in a dry, deserted town, and his mind tells him that the next left will bring him to a building that no one uses. He hides there often. They won't find him there._

_ He turns the corner and faces a tall brick wall, seemingly impossible to scale. He spins around to see the dark figures approaching._

_ "You will submit to the monster you are," orders one._

_ Fire floods his veins. He body changes around him, without his permission. Dark marks cover his arms and his chest while he scrubs at his skin, trying to erase the sign of what he hates. Then, a pair of strong arms wraps around him and pins his arms to his chest._

_ "Enough, Kaito," growls a voice near his ear._

_ He recognizes it and relaxes, limp in the man's arms. Suddenly, the air is full of fire. The men trying to capture him scream and fall, but he can see nothing beyond the circle of _sensei_'s flames surrounding him. _

_ Then, the fire turns on him, and the man supporting him is gone. He is alone, and he cannot breathe, and he is scared—_

Kaito woke up with a jerk, at once wide awake in the dim light of morning. He sat up in the bed he lay in and slowly remembered his situation. He was in the hospital in Konoha. He vaguely remembered being put to bed by the medic, Sakura-chan, with Mei at his side. Glancing down, he saw the girl still sleeping, curled into a ball next to him. Kaito glanced around and saw Mako already sitting up in the second bed in the hospital room. On the opposite wall, _sensei_ dozed in a large chair. Mako peered at his friend.

"Bad dream?" he asked with more interest than Kaito wanted him to have.

Kaito looked away, willing his eyes not to fall on _sensei_'s form.

"Asahi," answered Kaito.

He couldn't say anymore than that, but he thought Mako would get the idea. The only reason Kaito had made it out of Asahi had been because of _sensei_. Even yesterday, the Oto genin only proved that he was a liability when fighting, and _sensei_ was the only one who could fix him. He didn't know why _sensei_ was so insistent on coming to Konoha. But Mako nodded solemnly at Kaito's explanation and said nothing more.

Then, the door to their shared hospital room opened to admit two Konoha ninja Kaito recognized from the team that had escorted them here. Kaito glared at Uchiha Sasuke while the taller one, the one with fang marks on his cheeks, pinned Mako with a demanding stare.

_ "Oi, kouzu_," Kiba-san called.

"Don't call me that," Mako snapped back.

_Sensei_ called Mako a kid at least once a week, but Kaito knew no one else was allowed to. Some of the men in Hafuko had tried to and gotten glared at. Kiba ignored Mako's obvious displeasure.

"Wake your _sensei_, wouldja?" he demanded of the boy.

"I'm awake, dog-breath." The voice from _sensei_'s still body made the four conscious boys turn to the man.

Kaito watched _sensei_ raise one hand and sweep it back from his forehead to the back of his head. He did that in the morning to get his hair out of his eyes. Except now his hair was too short, and it didn't suit him. But the habit still remained.

"What's going on?" asked _sensei_, his eyes open and peering at Kiba.

"Tsunade-sama wants to see all of you this morning," Uchiha answered instead. "We're your escorts."

"Do we get a procession, too?" _Sensei_'s mouth lifted in a wide smile, but it fell again when Mako was the only one who laughed weakly. _Sensei_ waved one hand at the men. "Gimme a minute."

He stood and rolled his shoulders back. Sleeping in a chair was probably not comfortable. Kaito wondered if the ones who had escorted them here simply refused to bring another bed or if _sensei_ hadn't asked.

"Those three, too." Uchiha nodded toward the beds where Raiden's students still huddled.

Kaito was proud of _sensei_ when the man shot Uchiha an annoyed glare.

"They have names, y'know," he protested. Not waiting for an answer, the man turned to face the beds as well. "Kaito—"

"I'll get Mei-chan," Kaito declared before _sensei_ could ask anything.

He wanted to be the one to wake her up. It might scare her if he left and then another person had to tell her it was time to leave. _Sensei_ nodded and announced his intention to visit the bathroom before any other moves were made.

"Mei-chan." Kaito shook the girl's shoulder gently.

Mei yawned widely and peered at Kaito from beneath heavy lids.

"I don' wanna get up," she grumbled and buried her face into the mattress.

Kaito shot Mako a look, but the older boy just shrugged helplessly as he clambered off his own bed. Together, they managed to convince Mei that she really had to get up, adding in a "_sensei_ said so" when she wasn't moving fast enough. They were all allowed to wash their faces and change their shirts—Mei hid in the bathroom for her wardrobe rearranging. Half an hour later, they marched down the street for the Hokage Tower.

Mei somehow took the lead, obviously deciding that the giant white dog, Akamaru, made for the best walking companion. She clutched Akamaru's fur with one fist as the dog loped along at a slow enough pace to accommodate the girl. Kiba followed behind with the dark-haired Uchiha beside him. Kaito and Mako walked behind them, neither saying much, while Genkei alone brought up the rear. Mako kept glancing back at the man, but _sensei_ didn't pay much attention. He was too busy craning his neck to look around, studying everything as though even the most mundane routines of the morning were fascinating to him. Kaito turned his head back to face forward and caught the tail end of a muttered conversation between the two ninja.

"You agreed to it when Tsunade-sama asked you last night," growled Kiba.

"I'm still agreeing," Uchiha hissed back. "I was merely pointing out that we should have more protection against him."

Kaito knew in a heartbeat who they were talking about. Uchiha only spoke about _sensei_ with that kind of voice.

"Yeah, we get it." Kiba rolled his eyes, his voice rising in annoyance. "You don't like the guy."

"Why did you look so hard for _sensei_ if you didn't want him?" snapped Kaito, wanting them to know that they weren't being very sneaky.

Kiba and Uchiha looked over their shoulders with the same movement, one with a suspiciously blank look on his face that concealed all his previous hatred while the other merely looked surprised that Kaito had interrupted their conversation.

"Hey, he wants to kill _orochi-teme_." Kiba finally shrugged as the surprise melted from his face. "So do we. Why are _you _so pissed off?"

"He doesn't deserve your hatred." Kaito stopped walking and glared up at the Uchiha. Staring down the black, empty eyes, he thought of the most painful threat he could. "If he ends up hurt because of you, I'll cut out your eyes."

"Kaito!" _sensei_ shouted from behind them.

Even Mako looked surprised at Kaito's vehemence. Kiba stopped walking and looked straight at Uchiha.

"I think he was talkin' to you," supposed the man.

Kaito couldn't look at _sensei_ as he felt a strong hand wrap around his arm and pull him backwards. Forcefully, he fell in beside the man and glanced up to see how angry _sensei_ was.

"Okay, new rule," _sensei_ growled through gritted teeth. "No more talking 'til the meeting's over."

Kaito nodded obediently. Really, what did he think he could do? He couldn't even fight without losing himself to a curse he didn't want. _Sensei_ was strong enough without him; Kaito just didn't want anything to happen to the man who had saved him. Slowly, the party started walking again. Mei paused long enough to take a spot beside Mako instead of walking with Akamaru. Kiba, meanwhile, huffed and shook his head.

"You're just great at making new friends, aren't ya, Uchiha?" he demanded.

Uchiha said nothing.

**o0O0o**

Mako and Mei were lagging behind by the time they reached the Hokage Tower. Kiba and Sasuke were still in the lead as if Naruto couldn't find his way to the tower on his own. Then again, he wasn't supposed to know Konoha as well as he did. As it was, he didn't pay much attention to the directions as his friends led them up the wide stairs and into Tsunade's office.

Shikamaru already stood in front of Tsunade's desk, and Sakura stood at the Hokage's left side. Naruto wondered how big an influence Sakura was in daily management of Konoha, since she was Tsunade's apprentice and all. Naruto looked over his shoulder and frowned at Mako.

"Wouldja quit lookin' like you're going to a funeral," he grumbled.

Mako and Kaito had been in a bad mood all morning, exacerbated by Kaito's threat against Sasuke. But Naruto wasn't sure yet what had caused it. He waved the three kids to him and stood straight as Mako and Kaito circled to his left side and the young girl stood close to his right hand.

"Mako. Kaito. Mei." Naruto faced Tsunade and pointed to his kids' heads as he named them. "Meet Godaime Hokage."

Tsunade only nodded at the introduction. It was a bit strange to see her so business-like when Naruto was used to getting reprimanded in the form of a super-powerful punch.

"Very well." Tsunade folded her hands on top of her desk and addressed the room at large. "Raiden has agreed to join Konoha in the war against Otogakure and Orochimaru for a price."

"Oh, so now we're payin' him?" Kiba scoffed.

Naruto thought he saw Kaito shoot Kiba a nasty glare, but at least he kept his mouth shut.

"Starting today, Odama Makoto, Tanaka Kaito, and Aki Mei are wards of Konoha," announced Tsunade.

"Say what?" _That _threw Kiba for a loop.

"I told you I'd be a ninja, _sensei_," growled Mako suddenly, "not an orphan."

Maybe Naruto should have enforced his no-talking rule to all his students. He just hadn't anticipated a negative reaction.

"You're too old to go back there, Mako." Naruto glanced at the oldest boy. "But you have to belong to the village before you get a _hitai-ate_."

"Do I have to take that symbol?" interjected Kaito.

"I wouldn't force you, Kaito, you know that," Naruto sighed, because it was true; he'd never force Kaito or the others to do what _he _wanted. "But you _are _their ward now."

"Why?" Kaito still protested.

"Because if something happens to me, at least you'll be in a place where it won't rain on you," Naruto exhaled his words all in a rush.

In the silence that followed, he knew that his kids were all staring at him. He even suspected that Sakura's eyes were more curious than calculating.

"'S there somethin' you're not tellin' us, _sensei_?" Mako asked suspiciously.

Naruto laced his fingers together behind his neck and tilted his head back to stare at Tsunade's ceiling.

"Nope," he answered shortly.

"Liar," Mako returned.

"Yeah, yeah."

Naruto cast his eyes around the room. Sasuke and Shikamaru were both paying unusual attention to Naruto's conversation, but Kiba pointedly looked away from Genkei and the kids. Tsunade ignored both the tension and the discomfort between the people in her office.

"Well, now that that is settled, one thing remains," she continued professionally. "You need a place to stay while you're here."

"Just put us in some apartment, if you can't find a house for us." Naruto really didn't know of anyone who would be willing to rent to a person they thought was about as loyal as Momochi Zabuza, but a house would be nice. Maybe Mei-chan could have her own room.

"Actually, there is an open family holding that will hold you and your students."

Naruto stared at Tsunade with a growing sense of dread in the pit of his stomach. The only family holdings he knew of all belonged to the clans of Konoha. Nara, Akamichi, Hyuuga, they all had their own sections of several houses to hold all the extended family members. But Naruto couldn't imagine any of them opening up any doors for a man and three kids that weren't their own. Not only did it pose the danger that someone from outside the clan would see family techniques or even secrets, there was a space issue with most of the clans. Except for—

"There is enough room in the Uchiha Complex for all of you," announced Tsunade.

"What?" Mako shouted immediately. "We're roomin' with Uchiha?"

"No frikkin' way in Hell," Kaito growled with his own glare at Sasuke thrown in.

_ "Sensei_?" Mei's voice broke through, puzzled and unsure.

"Shut up!"

The room fell silent again in the wake of Naruto's outburst. He could feel all three of his students staring at him, and even with his eyes closed, he could picture their wariness, the uncertainty kids got when someone they were supposed to trust suddenly turned mean. He hated that. It reminded him too much of how people _used_ to look at him. Naruto ground the heel of his hand into his temple and scratched at his head. Then he lifted his eyes to meet Tsunade's.

"Are you sure this is a good idea?" He managed to crack a wry smile at the stoic Hokage. "My students might murder him in his sleep."

"It is the only place willing to take you in," Tsunade retorted blandly.

"And Uchiha agreed to this?" demanded Naruto.

"Yes," Tsunade answered.

Naruto rolled his eyes, catching a glimpse of Sasuke standing with his arms folded over his chest and looking for all the world like a very well-painted statue.

"Why am I not convinced?" he muttered.

Naruto knew why they were doing this. They didn't trust him—didn't trust _Raiden_. By placing him, along with his students, in an empty house, Tsunade could ensure that he didn't pose an immediate danger to anyone in the village. And by placing him with Sasuke, Tsunade had a ready-made suspicious jounin willing to play guard duty.

"One more thing," Tsunade interrupted his thoughts once more. "I am also concerned about your student's health while we study his seal."

Kaito flinched at that statement, and Naruto shifted his weight closer toward the boy. It wasn't Kaito's fault, what had been done to him. At the same time, Naruto was eager to see what Tsunade could do with the seal. He knew Sasuke no longer had to deal with Orochimaru's influence on his body; Kaito deserved that much, at least.

"So, Med-nin Haruno Sakura will be residing with you as well," Tsunade concluded.

"Sakura-_hime_?" Mei repeated hopefully.

All thoughts of his own students suddenly fled Naruto's mind in the wake of one singular realization. It was his team. _His _team—Team Seven—was going to be together again, all under one roof at the same time, and he wasn't even allowed to tell them how happy he was about it. He didn't even know if he was _allowed_ to be happy about it. Laughter bubbled up in his chest before he could stop it, and the more he tried to hold it down, the more he choked on it. Naruto bent over with one hand clutching his stomach, alternatively chuckling and wheezing as tears formed in the corners of his eyes.

"Okay," began Mako nervously, "is this the part where we should run for the hills?"

A final, loud "ha" escaped Naruto's lips as he straightened. He knew he had to make a funny picture, dying of laughter while he was being told he was pretty much being baby-sat by his new employers. Naruto took a deep breath and glanced around the room. Kiba was staring at him like he had lost his mind, but Naruto didn't really blame his fellow ninja for that assessment. Shikamaru was frowning, a rare expression for Shikamaru if only because it made him look confused. But Sakura looked a little unsure of herself, like she was apprehensive about her task of overseeing the unknown nin. And Sasuke—Sasuke only stared at Raiden with the same cold hatred he had always shown the man. It only served to remind Naruto that his team was gone even if _he _was present.

"Just do what they say," he sighed, finally addressing his students.

"But you hate Uchiha," protested Kaito.

Naruto looked down at the boy with wide eyes.

"No, I don't, Kaito," he answered, because he honestly _didn't_ hate Sasuke. He doubted that he ever could.

A small smile crept onto Naruto's face as he leaned down until he was eye-level with Kaito.

"I just think he's a bastard," he whispered conspiratorially and still loud enough for the room to hear. His smile widened to a grin when Sasuke's cold stare turned into an annoyed glare. "Don't worry. It'll all balance out. Sakura-chan will be the nice disciplinarian, and I'll provide the fun."

**o0O0o**

Sasuke unlocked the house and led his guests into their new residence. The house was dusty and had the look of an abandoned hut. The _tatami_ had holes in it where animals had chewed through the reeds, and one of the _fusuma_ doors separating the living room from the hallway that led to the bedrooms had fallen off its track. Sasuke stepped into the living room, followed by three kids and a pink-haired med-nin.

"Nice place, Uchiha," muttered Mako. "You live here with the other snakes?"

Sasuke kept his eyes fixed on scanning the room, looking for other defects. He had heard too many insults attaching his name with snakes to care anymore.

"Nah, he rents it to the ghosts," answered an uncaring voice.

Gritting his molars together, Sasuke turned to look at Raiden from the corner of his eye. How was it the man only pushed buttons that no one else in Konoha ever dared to touch? Raiden entered the living room and stood next to Sasuke as if he hadn't done anything wrong. He shrugged off the pack on his shoulders and lifted the thick strap of the scroll he had carried from the hospital off his back.

"You sure there's enough room here for all of us?" he questioned Sasuke as he deposited his belongings on the floor.

Sasuke turned away from the man with a grunt.

"Four bedrooms," he answered.

The house had belonged to one of the members of the Uchiha Council, an older couple with grown children. Sasuke refused to bring the mouse-haired man and his kids to his own old house. Even he hadn't set foot in that house since he had initially left Konoha to seek power.

"Right then." Sakura rubbed her hands together authoritatively. "Kaito-kun and Mako-kun can share a room, and Mei-chan can sleep with me."

Mako glanced at Sakura then nodded thoughtfully. Mei looked more unsure as she stared at Raiden with wide eyes.

_ "Sensei_?" she queried.

Raiden strode to the girl and knelt down in front of her.

"It's okay, right, Mei-chan?" He laid both hands on her shoulders. "Mako and Kaito will be right beside you."

Mei bit her lower lip and lowered her eyes shyly. Genkei leaned forward and whispered quietly in the girl's ear. He drew back smiling, and Mei nodded fervently.

"Okay," she declared.

"Good." Raiden braced one hand on his knee and pushed himself to his feet. "Mako, you and Kaito pick out a room, okay? Make sure it's next to Mei-chan's."

"Sure," answered the eldest boy. He snatched Mei's hand and led her through the broken _fusuma_ with Kaito following both of them.

"What did you tell her?" asked Sakura once the kids were out of the room.

Raiden tilted his head like a curious animal and looked at Sakura.

"That maybe sharing a room with another girl would make her smell good like Sakura-chan does," the man replied with a wide grin.

Sakura turned a bright shade of red, her face a cross somewhere between mortification and rage. Sasuke decided he didn't care for that crooked grin and folded his arms across his chest.

"Better than smelling like blood," he taunted calmly.

Raiden reacted immediately, spinning from his perusal of Sakura to face Sasuke with a frown.

"Okay, what the hell do you want me to do, _teme_?" he snapped. "I'm on _your _side, if you haven't noticed."

"You're a traitor to your village," accused Sasuke.

He wasn't sure if that was actually true. Most _nuke-nin_ still bore the symbol of their village or their land, even if it marked them as traitors. Raiden carried no such symbol; not as old man Genkei or masked Raiden or even this new face that currently glared at Sasuke with fresh hatred.

"And you're an expert on—"

Raiden cut himself off before he could finish his own insult. Sasuke frowned and wondered why Raiden was perfectly willing to bring up Sasuke's ghosts but stopped short of accusing him of being a traitor. Raiden ran one hand through his short hair tiredly and looked back at Sasuke with more exasperation than annoyance.

"D'ya wanna fight me, bastard?" he demanded, stepping up until he was barely centimeters away from Sasuke's face. "Would that make you feel better?"

Sasuke remained in his pose, arms crossed and face blank, determined to remain unaffected by Raiden's hate. Suddenly, Mako marched back through the broken _fusuma_.

"Hey, _sensei_, we found—" the boy started then stopped abruptly when he saw the face off between Raiden and Sasuke. "Did I miss something?"

All the tension drained out of Raiden's body as he closed his eyes and let out all the air in his lungs. Limply, he turned and walked back to where his belongings rested on the dusty _tatami_.

"Remind me to have a talk with you about your timing," the man muttered at his student. "C'mere and take this."

He held up the torso-length scroll out to the boy. Mako hurried to Raiden's side and wrapped his arms around the thick scroll. Sasuke's eyes followed his movement. He was surprisingly disappointed with the anti-climatic resolution. Raiden was just giving up?

"I thought you wanted to fight," he accused.

Raiden handed off the scroll and rolled his head back on his shoulders.

"I'm sick of fighting you," Raiden announced. "I'm sick of hiding, and I'm sick of everyone looking at me with such hateful eyes."

"Then why would you become a ninja in the first place?"

It was common knowledge that ninja were not well-liked by civilians, and most endured some danger of being hated for the people they killed in the field. But Raiden only shook his head.

"I was never going to be anything else," he retorted quietly. "I knew I wanted to be a ninja ever since I knew who _he _was."

"Who?" Sakura interjected suddenly.

Raiden gazed at the young woman for a moment before turning away. He slung his cloth pack over one shoulder and started walking for the broken _fusuma_. Mako put on a smug smile and faced Sasuke and Sakura.

"That means he's not gonna tell you," announced the boy triumphantly.

"Sarutobi Hiruzen," Raiden called without looking back.

Mako turned to his _sensei_, surprised, while Sasuke just stared at the man's back.

"Mean _sensei_," Mako whined, following after Raiden. "I thought you weren't gonna tell 'em. And who the heck is Saru-whats-his-name?"

Sasuke glanced at Sakura, who was much more obvious with her puzzlement. Raiden knew the Sandaime Hokage, in some capacity. Sasuke wondered if he had been an enemy or ally. An enemy could want to become a ninja after seeing the strength of an opposing leader. But something still rubbed Sasuke wrong about the situation. He hated the feeling that he was missing something, that Raiden had secrets that Sasuke was _supposed_ to know.

**o0O0o**

Mako followed _sensei_ into the last room on the right, heaving the giant scroll in his arms as he walked. The room was empty except for a futon rolled up against the far wall. _Sensei_'s eyes tracked a mouse skittering across the floor and through a hole to the outside. Mako set the scroll on its end and leaned it against the wall.

"So, I guess this one's mine," muttered _sensei_.

"Kaito and I took the room across the hall, and Mei-chan is next to us," Mako explained. "_Sensei_, are you sure we're gonna stay here?"

_Sensei _just turned and pinned the boy with a quelling look, an answer in and of itself. But Mako wasn't reassured. The paper _fusuma_ behind Mako slid open, and Kaito entered the room with a determined look on his face.

_ "Sensei_, this isn't a good idea," Kaito announced in one straight breath.

"See, see!" Mako pointed enthusiastically to the other boy. "I _never_ agree with him. This has to mean something."

_Sensei_ shrugged off his pack with an amused smile as he turned to his boys.

"Appreciated, but we're stayin'." He ran one hand through Mako's hair then shot a frown toward the hallway. "No matter what the bastard tries."

Mako knew without asking which bastard _sensei_ was referring to. Out of all Konoha, Uchiha was the only one who was outright obvious about his feelings toward Raiden. And he was the only one that _sensei_ had gotten mad at.

"You sure you don't hate Uchiha, _sensei_?" questioned Mako.

That face-off that he had walked in on was a little weird. He had seen his _sensei_ face down bad guys, _evil_ guys, with either a smile or a blank mask for a face. This was neither. Maybe it was because Uchiha was just a bastard and not an _evil_ bastard, but then _sensei_ looked so tired when he turned away again.

"He wasn't always . . ." _sensei_ started then paused as he studied the ceiling over his head. "Well, he _was_ always a bastard, but he got better. At least he talks to Sakura-chan now."

"You knew him?" Kaito demanded.

"I knew him," answered the man quietly. "Even before he went to Orochimaru."

Mako focused intently on the answer. He knew _sensei_ was from Konoha; heck, even Kaito and Mei knew that. But that was all any of them knew. Even when Mako had first met the man, he hadn't given Mako a name. Mako had nothing to call him but "teacher." _Sensei_ rolled back his shoulders suddenly and turned a bright grin on the two boys.

"You guys want to see Konoha?"

"What? Now?" Mako's head raced to keep up with _sensei_'s sudden change of mood. One would think he'd be used to _sensei_'s sudden personality switches by now.

"Sure. Go get Mei-chan," ordered _sensei_. "We'll take Sakura-chan and Sasuke-teme, too."

Kaito frowned at the mention of Uchiha-the-bastard, but he spun on his heel and opened the door purposefully.

"Kaito," _sensei_ called before Kaito could escape to the hallway.

Mako followed Kaito's gaze back to _sensei_. The man was serious in the way he only was when he was talking about the things that were most important to him: his family, his _nindo_, or his secrets. Despite the twinge of wrongness in Mako's gut about the permanent disguise that made _sensei_ not look like _sensei_, he couldn't look away from the man's serious eyes.

"This place is still precious to me," _sensei_ declared. "Just as much as you or Mei-chan."

Kaito didn't acknowledge _sensei_'s statement. He just turned his back on the room and exited, sliding the paper door shut behind him. Mako frowned at the barrier. He knew Kaito didn't like being out of control, even more than anyone else Mako had met. But _sensei_ knew what he was doing. At least, Mako thought so.

"Hey, Mako."

Mako faced _sensei_ again to see the man pull the black-wrapped bento box out of his pack. Mako inched forward as _sensei_ unwrapped the box and withdrew several sheets of paper, each with a seal printed in the center of the paper.

"Take care of these for me," _sensei _ordered and held out the seals to his student.

Obediently, Mako took the squares of paper. Even as many times as he had seen the unique symbols that covered _sensei_'s escape method, he still had no idea how to read them. It didn't really matter, though. He only needed to know one thing.

"Where d'ya want them?"

_Sensei_ frowned thoughtfully.

"One here, on the grounds," he answered. "Then the Academy, the Hokage Tower, and the hospital. I'll point them out as we pass them."

_Sensei_ replaced the bento box and the black cloth into his pack.

"Make sure they're in open spaces. I don't want to crash into anything."

"Yeah, I know." Mako nodded and turned to leave the room, tucking the papers into the front of his _yukata_.

Halfway to the door, Mako thought of something and looked over his shoulder at his _sensei_.

"Y'know," he called, "Kaito doesn't hate this place. He's just scared."

Mako grimaced. He hadn't meant it to come out like that. Konoha was the only place that might be able to help Kaito with his curse, and Mako knew his friend would be relieved to see it gone. But, more than the potential benefits that came with Konoha, Kaito, like Mako, was nervous about what would happen to _sensei._ But Mako also knew Kaito wouldn't appreciate him letting _sensei_ know.

"Don't tell him I said that," he commanded quickly.

One corner of _sensei_'s mouth rose up.

"Wouldn't dream of it, Mako," he replied.

Mako nodded decidedly, like a sealing of a pact, and opened the door to let himself out. Maybe now was a good time to find a large plot of land for _sensei_ to land if he needed to get away from somewhere quickly.

**o0O0o**

Getting both Sasuke and Sakura to agree to an outing had been a trick-and-a-half, but Naruto was nothing if not wily. Sakura had been perfectly willing to venture into the village proper with three kids, even if it meant being seen with Raiden. Sasuke was a little harder to convince. It took a combination of Naruto goading him, Sakura arguing with him, and Mei standing there with her best puppy dog eyes.

Naruto wasn't actually sure the puppy dog eyes had any effect on Sasuke, but at least the bastard was outside now. He needed more sun as it was. Bastard probably _requested_ his missions to be nocturnal ones. Pushing thoughts of what kind of trouble Sasuke could get into without him from his mind, Naruto breathed deeply and inhaled the scent of overly salted broth, noodles, and fried meat that was heaven to him.

_Ichiraku Ramen_. Konoha never changed.

"Hey."

Mako bounded up to his _sensei_ as Naruto stood in front of the noodle stand. The boy held up two papers, and Naruto shifted quickly so that his body blocked the view of Mako from inside Ichiraku's, where Sakura waited with the other two kids. Sasuke hovered around the opposite side of the street. Naruto didn't think he had spoken two words since they had left the Uchiha grounds.

"I got two left," Mako announced as he waved the final two seals in front of Naruto. "That tower thing was hard. You're lucky you taught me the Kage Bunshin."

"Yeah, yeah, you're indispensable," grumbled Naruto. "Gimme that."

He snatched one of the papers from Mako and stuffed it quickly in his pocket.

"What about this one?" Mako flipped the remaining seal between his fingers, a leftover habit of his pickpocketing days.

"Remember where they wrote my name?" Naruto asked. Mako nodded thoughtfully. "Put it there. This one comes with me."

He already knew where it was going. He had a total of five seals positioned throughout the village, and he could appear at any one of them with the correct application of chakra. They were meant to be a kind of safety net—a way he could return to somewhere safe if everything was going to hell. He still had two in Hafuko as long as no one had found and removed them. But he still didn't know if the seals in Konoha would end up being a way to come home or a way to escape if someone found out who he was.

"Like, now?" Mako questioned.

"Let's get ramen first." Naruto grinned. He was looking forward to this.

Naruto steered Mako into the noodle stand and cast one final glance over his shoulder.

"You're falling behind again, Sasuke-_teme_!" he called.

Sasuke glared at him and stomped forward to join his tormentor. Naruto was pretty sure Sasuke was only in coming to Ichiruka because Raiden had commented on how he would _love_ some ramen for lunch. But Sasuke let the heckling pass and entered the small stand with the others.

"Good morning, Sakura-san." Old man Ichiraku Teuchi still manned the post behind the counter. From the way he bowed at Sakura, Naruto guessed that he was familiar with her as a customer.

"Good morning, Ichiraku-san," Sakura replied.

Mako was already clambering onto a stool with Kaito at his right hand. Sakura-chan helped Mei-chan on a chair next to her, which left two open stools at the counter between Sakura and Mako. Naruto glanced at Sasuke, wondered whether he would follow Raiden's lead, then plopped down in the seat next to Mako. Sakura was already uncomfortable around Raiden, and Sasuke got testy when Sakura was uncomfortable. He didn't need to make it worse.

"Hey, old man," he called jovially to the man behind the counter. "Can I get a miso ramen?"

"Sure," answered Teuchi-san. "I don't think I've seen you around before."

"I'm Genkei." The lie came out easily. "I'm staying in town with my kids."

Naruto had a feeling any further explanation wouldn't go over well. The knowledge that he was staying at the Uchiha Complex would just be weird, and he didn't think he could get away with it without explaining also that he was an unknown ninja hired for Konoha's war. Selfishly, Naruto wanted the old man to think well of him.

"Hey, Forehead-chan!"

The call was loud and sudden. Naruto wasn't the only one who turned his head quickly over his shoulder to see the cause of the sudden disturbance.

"I knew I saw you come in here," Ino declared as she sauntered into the noodle stand.

Behind her, Chouji strode into the stand, raising one hand to brush aside the cloth draperies in the doorway. They both looked good. Chouji had gotten taller since Naruto had seen him last, but he had managed not to put on more weight. Even Ino had grown into quite a woman, Naruto noticed, then he suddenly ducked his head at the thought and cursed all the perverted teachers he had every had—which was pretty much every one of them.

"What are you doing here, Ino?" Surprise took any bite out of Sakura's greeting.

"We were just looking for some place to get lunch after training." Ino gestured to Chouji. "And Chouji said we hadn't been to Ichiraku's in a while."

A tap on the counter made Naruto look up as Ichiraku delivered his bowl of noodles and broth. Naruto quickly snapped his chopsticks apart and focused on digging into his meal to avoid suspicious glances from Ino and Chouji.

"Hey, who's this?"

Too late. Ino bent over the counter and peered at Naruto just as he scooped half the noodles in the bowl with an expert turn of his chopsticks. Knowing the picture he made with noodles hanging out of his mouth, Naruto replaced the noodles with only a moment to mourn their loss.

"Did you get a date without telling me, Sakura?"

Mei giggled from her place next to Sakura while Sakura glared back at Ino.

"No. This is—"

"Hi, I'm Genkei," Naruto interrupted before Sakura could blurt anything in her anger.

"Are you visiting Konoha?" Chouji asked with a friendly smile.

Naruto had to grin back.

"Well, I heard that this was the best ramen stand in all five countries, so I had to give it a try," replied Naruto.

"It's great, isn't it?" The large man grinned behind Ino.

Chouji looked incredibly excited to find a fellow appreciator of food. He paused to gesture over Ino's head to Ichiraku, who immediately gave the Akimichi a thumbs-up and started preparing a new bowl. Naruto supposed Chouji was a common enough customer to have a regular order.

"So, how long are you here for?" Chouji persisted in his friendly inquiry.

"I guess I haven't decided yet." Naruto used his free hand to rub at the back of his head.

"Until the end of the war," Sasuke interjected.

Naruto threw him a quick glance, wondering if Sasuke had more to say than that. Naruto kind of doubted the bastard was willing to help him with his subterfuge. But Sasuke just leaned against the wall behind Mei and Sakura and looked back at Naruto as if daring him to say something.

"Well, Konoha is safer than anywhere in the country." Ino nodded as if that decided things. "Did you bring your brothers here as well?"

"He's Raiden," Sasuke blurted before Naruto could answer.

"What?" Chouji turned, puzzled, to Sasuke as if just seeing him.

Naruto rolled his eyes and gave up thoroughly enjoying his bowl of ramen. Sasuke looked at Naruto with a gleam of triumph that Naruto could just barely discern.

"You can't cut a guy a break, _teme_?" Naruto growled.

"You're . . ." Ino began and seemed unable to finish.

"The guy who killed Pein?" finished Naruto. "Hired to kill _orochi-teme_? Yeah, that's me."

He sagged in his seat and surveyed the damage he had inflicted on Ichiraku's happy atmosphere. Chouji and Ino stared at him as if his disguise had suddenly turned his hair blue, which—Naruto supposed—was better than staring at him as if he were _shinigami _itself. Sakura looked decidedly uncomfortable, again, while Sasuke just stood there and surveyed the object of his hate. Naruto wondered if it would be better if he acted cold and unfeeling, like Itachi had been. At least then he would feel like he _deserved_ the stares he seemed to keep getting.

"Hey, _sensei_," Mako interjected suddenly. "Can I take off?"

Naruto glanced to one side to regard the boy. With his stack of two empty ramen bowls in front of him, Mako looked like a misconstrued version of Naruto himself. He also looked very determined. Then again, Naruto couldn't really blame the boy for wanting to make his escape, and fast. Mako gestured to his right to include Kaito in the conversation as well.

"Kaito's coming with me," he announced.

For a moment, Naruto wondered what kind of trouble Mako and Kaito were planning on getting into. But then, Mako _did_ have a history in Konoha, even before Naruto had gotten involved. Maybe the kid was just taking his friend around the town.

"Okay," he agreed.

"Me, too, _sensei_," Mei suddenly declared as she slid off her stool and stood next to Mako.

Naruto frowned at the three kids gathered together. The two boys going off wasn't so suspicious, but Mei tagging along was either her unwillingness to let her boys out of her sight or something all three kids had cooked up.

"What is this? A mutiny?" Naruto demanded.

None of the kids answered him—not like he really expected them to. Although the wide innocent eyes that Mako was giving him was a bit much.

"Fine." Naruto waved all three of them off lazily. "Don't get lost."

"Yeah, right," Mako scoffed.

The three kids hurried out of the noodle stand, leaving behind a group of adults gathered uncertain in the heavy tension in Ichiraku's.

"So, Ino-pig," began Sakura hesitantly. "Did you train with Shikamaru this morning?"

"No," Ino answered, just as carefully. "He said he had some thinking to do before he went to visit Kurenai-sensei."

Chouji carefully positioned himself between Ino and Raiden as he pulled the extra-large bowl of chicken ramen toward him. It was a defensive and protective move, all in one. Naruto planted his right elbow onto the counter and leaned his chin on his fist as he tilted his head to look at Chouji and Ino.

"I'm not that scary," he protested loudly. "Honestly. I'm just a regular guy who happens to hate snakes. And loves ramen."

It was kind of like the introduction he had given years ago on top of a roof to a brooding avenger, a blushing fangirl, and a masked scarecrow. The ringing declaration to be the best Hokage ever still sang in his ears.

"So, is it the best ramen in the five countries?" Chouji questioned.

"Nah, even better than that." Naruto grinned at Ichiraku.

Chouji's face slowly relaxed into something much closer to how Naruto always remembered his big-boned friend, and he beamed at the Akimichi.

"Do you like sweets?" Naruto piped up. "There's an _okashi _stand in Suna that sells the best dango in the world."

Chouji chuckled as Ino huffed and mumbled something to Sakura about men and their love of food. Naruto turned his head just enough to catch Sasuke's eye and grinned triumphantly. Even if Sasuke was determined to make sure Raiden didn't make any friends, Naruto was confident enough in himself to bring back every one of his precious people back to his side.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru had been walking around the village since daybreak. He had gone through more cigarettes in the past five days than in the past month, and his mother kept complaining that he smelled like smoke every time he came into the house. Luckily, Kurenai didn't seem to mind. He was supposed to spend the afternoon with her and her daughter; he just needed to stop thinking about lost shinobi and puzzles in the form of strange men.

He didn't visit the Konoha Memorial Stone very often. He left regretting the past to other men while he did his best to work on present dilemmas. But it was one spot in Konoha that was guaranteed to be quiet. Occasionally, a jounin would take his students here or a couple kids would wander in, distracted by a game, but on the whole people were too respectful of the dead to be distracting.

Shikamaru heard a set of hurried footsteps ahead of him as he walked the path toward the stone silently. Self-conscious, he made his presence as unobtrusive as possible and inched his way closer to the center of field. He heard the voices before he saw the kids.

"What are we doing here?"

Kaito's voice, Shikamaru identified. It was harsh enough to belong to the disgruntled boy.

"I told you," Mako responded. "_Sensei_'s name is somewhere on this stone. He told me."

Shikamaru was close enough to see them now, all three kids sitting front and center before the Memorial Stone.

"That's a lot of names," Mei murmured, her eyes captivated by the tribute to Konoha's dead.

"Well, there were less when he and I were here last." Mako used one finger to scratch at his temple, much like Shikamaru had seen Raiden do the previous night.

"What does it matter?" demanded Kaito, looking very impatient at the independent exercise.

Mako looked at Kaito with wide eyes.

"Don't you want to know his real name?"

"If _sensei_ doesn't want to tell us, why should we know?" Kaito shrugged in response.

"Because I want to call him by name," Mako answered immediately. "He deserves that. And Genkei's such a stupid name."

"What are you doing here?" Shikamaru demanded from his spot directly behind the kids.

From the way they all jumped, Shikamaru guessed they had neither sensed nor heard him coming up. Mako looked immediately guilty, but he didn't lower his head in front of the ninja.

"Nothing," he replied stubbornly.

Kaito's eyes mirrored the defiant glance in Mako's, and Shikamaru thought the boys really could be brothers despite their opposing coloring. Shikamaru's eyes rose a little to take in the stone at the boys' backs.

"Nara-san?" Mei's timid call broke into Shikamaru's reverie.

He turned his eyes back on the three kids in front of him and frowned.

"Go back to your sensei," he ordered abruptly.

The kids hurried to obey him, scurrying around his legs and down the path back to the village. Shikamaru watched them go for a moment then looked back at the Memorial Stone. Raiden's real name was on this stone. That changed things. Raiden knew Sasuke's story and Kiba's habits because he had worked _with _them, not against. But if his name was on the stone, then Konoha was under the impression he was dead. Shikamaru's eyes ran down the list of names on the stone; there were always too many names. And somewhere among them was an old friend wearing the mask of a killer.

Shikamaru spun on his heel and marched down the path back to the main road of the village. He was going to have to apologize to Kurenai for ditching on her and then make a visit to the Hokage. He still had more to think about.

* * *

A/N: Another chapter out and in the world of internet reading. I _like_ summer break.

I've also been liking the most recent chapters of Naruto (498-503 or so). Personally, I think if Kishimoto-_sensei_ wanted to write an entire manga entitled _Minato_ or _Kushina_ instead of _Naruto_, I would be perfectly happy. I liked those two charaters ever since it was revealed they were Naruto's parents (liked the Yondaime for longer even when he didn't have a name), but now—with more details—their story is so much cooler.

But back to _my_ story, I have to give a shout-out to one of my reviewers. Usually I don't do this in the actual story, but he didn't leave a way to reply. So, invisible cookies go to Nemesis Jedi for calling the first place Naruto goes with his kids in Konoha: of course, Ichiraku Ramen.

I will see everyone at the end of August, and—as a special preview—I shall give you a hint. Stick around 'till September, and you'll see how/why Naruto left Konoha.

Sincerely,

Fia

_fusuma_ – moving panels covered in paper, often highly decorated or painted and used indoors to separate living spaces. They're part of traditional Japanese architecture, so I thought they would make a lot of sense inside an Uchiha house.

_Fuuja Houin_ – Evil Sealing Method: Fuuja Houin is a Fuuinjutsu technique used to counter-act the effects of a cursed seal. The ninja writes the needed seal characters on the ground and body of the person cursed with the seal. The ninja then forms the needed hand seals and places his hand over the cursed seal and then activates the written seal. Kakashi used this initially to suppress Sasuke's _Ten no Juin_, but the cursed seal is so strong that the sealing method is highly dependent on the victim's willpower to remain effective.

_okashi_ – sweets; I know, very uncreative, but I have no idea what else to call it.

_tatami_ – woven straw mats that served as the floor coverings in a traditional Japanese house.

_Ten no Juin_ – Orochimaru's Seal of Heaven (or Heaven Seal, I've seen it both ways). Obviously, the curse seal Orochimaru likes to place on people, based on the enzyme he stole from Juugo. It tends to change basic forms on different victims (like the Sound Four), but Sasuke and Anko both have a _tomoe_ design so imagine something similar for Kaito.


	7. In Which He Is Found

Chapter 6: In Which He Is Found

_Call it a clan, call it a network, call it a tribe, call it a family: Whatever you call it, whoever you are, you need one._

~ Jane Howard

**o0O0o**

"Guard duty?" Naruto repeated. "You went to all the trouble of finding me and getting me to fight, and you're putting me on guard duty with a bunch of genin?"

Tsunade laced her fingers together and rested them in front of her chin as she stared back at the indignant man in front of her desk.

"We're chuunin," protested the boy in question.

Naruto rolled his eyes at the boy in the deep green scarf. Sarutobi Konohamaru folded his arms deliberately and glared at Naruto while his sensei, a tall man with round glasses, hissed at him to behave. Naruto reminded himself that he wasn't allowed to smile at old friends any longer, much less old protégés. Besides, he was still genuinely annoyed at Tsunade's order.

"Why are you giving me a D-rank mission a team of Academy graduates could complete?" he demanded.

Ebisu shifted his weight in what was either a nervous gesture or a protective one. Naruto didn't think either reason was really necessary. Besides Konohamaru and his team, Shikamaru and Sasuke also stood in Tsunade's office. Sasuke had been Naruto's escort when Shikamaru showed up at the Uchiha Complex that morning saying that Raiden had to report to the Hokage for his orders. And his orders were to guard the wall like he was a twelve-year-old genin again.

"In times of war, patrolling the walls of the village becomes a C-rank mission or higher," Tsunade explained calmly. "You will be assigned to Team Three with their jounin-sensei, Urashima Ebisu."

Moegi glared at Genkei as if daring him to say anything. Her look didn't quite measure up to Konohamaru's, who carried all the indignance of an offended sixteen-year-old in his dark eyes, but it managed to make Naruto roll his eyes once again.

"You gotta be kidding," he said, more at the attitudes directed at him than to Tsunade's blatant explanation. "I thought I was your living weapon. Just point me toward Orochimaru and let me go."

"Do you know where he is?" Shikamaru demanded blandly.

Naruto shoved his hands into his pockets and shrugged defensively.

"Ta no Kuni. Somewhere."

So, he didn't know _orochi-teme_'s specific hideout. Big deal. The whole construct of Otogakure was more of a series of interconnected underground caverns and tunnels rather than an actual village like Konoha was, so it was_ always _hard to pinpoint the snake's location_. _Tsunade frowned at his response, and Naruto suddenly felt like he had gotten an answer wrong in front of a teacher.

"And so, you'll just tear up the whole country until you've left him no place to hide?" suggested the Hokage.

Naruto grit his teeth. That wasn't what he had in mind at all, but he was getting more and more anxious the more time he spent around Tsunade, especially in conjunction with Shikamaru and Sasuke. They were all looking at him like they couldn't decide if he was an enemy or simply a particularly unruly and unwanted employee.

"We may be at war, but we're not monsters." Tsunade lowered her hands to pin Raiden with harsh eyes.

"Neither am I," muttered Naruto.

He hated that look from people, judging and hating him for something that he wasn't.

"Then until we have a location for Orochimaru, you will remain within Konoha," ordered Tsunade.

Naruto glared back at the woman who had once been just as much of a hero to him as Jiraiya had. What was it about Raiden's reputation that made everyone in Konoha either hate him or fear him? Well, there _was_ Asahi. Thinking about what had happened in that small village in Rice Country only made Naruto feel worse. He narrowed his eyes sullenly at the wall to his left.

"Is it a requirement for Hokage to be nosy?" he demanded. "Shoulda put Uzumaki in that seat."

He heard the swish of displaced air and ducked just in time for Sasuke's _katana_ to slice through the empty space above his head. Instinctively, he reached into the pouch on his right thigh and withdrew a kunai, bringing it up to block Sasuke's downswing.

"What the hell!" Naruto cried as he shifted his weight suddenly and dodged so that he wasn't directly in front of the sword.

Sasuke's eyes were filled with anger as he swung his _katana_ over his head again. Naruto quickly curved his wrist around Sasuke's and met the long blade with his short knife. With his free hand he grabbed a handful of Sasuke's shirt and pulled him close.

"What is with the sudden attacks, _teme_?" Naruto shouted in Sasuke's face.

"How do you know about him?" Sasuke's expression did not shift from his initial anger.

Naruto's eyebrows rose in surprise even as he kept his limbs tense. Sasuke was _still _defending him. Although there wasn't much to defend, Naruto thought. He probably _would_ have been a really nosy Hokage. He chuckled at the thought, and Sasuke leaned harder on his sword.

"I told you, you're not the only one who remembers his name," Naruto explained hurriedly. "That kid was always loud-mouthing about how he was gonna be Hokage."

Well, it _was_ true, so it wasn't so inconceivable to think that Raiden had met Uzumaki Naruto once while traveling and heard of his greatest desire. It wasn't like Naruto had tried very hard to keep it a secret. Naruto felt the pressure against his kunai increase as Sasuke continued to glare.

"Enough," Tsunade suddenly ordered as she rose to her feet. "Sasuke, let him go. Raiden—"

"Yeah, yeah." Naruto withdrew his kunai before Tsunade could issue her order. "Guard duty with the genin." He paused to look at her instead of Sasuke. "And stop calling me that."

He stepped away from Sasuke, releasing the cloth held tightly between his fingers. Shikamaru, though tense, stood still beside Tsunade's desk, while Ebisu, Konohamaru, Moegi, and Udon all stared at Raiden like they were expecting an explosion.

"We'll lead you to the gate, Raiden-san." Ebisu managed to gather himself first and held out his hand to the door.

Naruto gave the man with sunglasses a kind of half-smile as he tucked away the kunai again. He walked to the door first with the jounin and three chuunin at his back. Once he reached the double doors, he figured it was a good time to show off just a little bit.

"Hey, Uchiha."

Naruto glanced over his shoulder to where Sasuke stood in front of Tsunade's desk.

"I win this time," he announced.

Sasuke looked back at Naruto, his expression morphing from anger into a strange mix of puzzlement and a look that clearly conveyed a 'must-I-continue-to-endure-you' attitude.

"You win?" Sasuke repeated.

Naruto smirked as he lifted his right hand and pointed his finger at Sasuke's chest, right at the inky seal he had managed to leave on the shirt he had grabbed. Sasuke's eyes traveled down, following Naruto's finger, and Naruto's smirk turned into a grin.

"Boom."

**o0O0o**

Konohamaru balanced easily on the top of the thick concrete wall that protected his village. Udon walked beside him, which was by design, of course, so that the two boys stood in between Raiden and Moegi behind them. Ebisu took up the rear of the party, giving him a view of all of his teammates as well as his unruly students.

"Konohamaru!" barked the _sensei_. "You're supposed to be looking out for intruders."

Konohamaru's eyes snapped from Raiden's back to the forest outside of Konoha as he grumbled several words under his breath that Ebisu would most likely smack him for. Why did they have to bring Raiden along with their patrol? It was bad enough that his team had to walk the length of the wall twice every week.

"It's all right, Ebisu-_sensei_," called Raiden from his place standing about a meter in front of the team. "I can't sense anyone coming."

He glanced back at the kids with a wide smile and eyes encircled with spots of discolored skin. Konohamaru felt Udon shudder beside him; Udon had always had less of stomach for shinobi life than Konohamaru had. But then Konohamaru had learned very early on that there were no shortcuts for those who wanted something important in life. That was the first lesson _oyabun_ had ever taught him, and he stuck to it.

"You can sense chakra signatures?" Ebisu demanded of Raiden.

"Sometimes."

The discolored skin around Raiden's eyes slowly faded back into normal flesh colors. Raiden turned his back on the team and continued walking along Konoha's wall.

"An old hermit taught me a trick or two," continued Raiden.

"How far does your range extend?" asked Ebisu-_sensei_.

Raiden tilted his head, and Konohamaru could see a thoughtful expression on the man's face.

"I don't know," Raiden finally answered. "I'm usually only using it when I'm looking for something or in battle. And if I'm looking for someone, I have to be perfectly still."

Konohamaru found this strange. He had heard of chakra sensors before; Ebisu-_sensei_ had even taught his team how to use their own inner energy to feel for other biological energies, which meant other chakra signatures, around them. The most standing still could do was reduce distractions, but someone like Raiden shouldn't have to relay on that.

"How does that work?" Konohamaru demanded.

Udon dug an elbow in between his friend's ribs, but Konohamaru ignored him and kept his eyes on the man in front of him. Raiden turned around and grinned at Konohamaru.

"Why?" he asked. "You wanna learn?"

The boy named after the village hidden in leaves pointed a finger rudely at the man.

"Who would want to learn anything from you!" shouted Konohamaru. "You're not worth anything!"

Raiden's eyes flashed with hurt suddenly, surprising Konohamaru. But then the gray eyes burned with something more like anger as Raiden turned away again.

"Guess so," he mumbled.

Konohamaru watched the man sprint ahead of the chuunin team, frowning.

"That wasn't very nice, Kono-kun," Moegi called from behind Konohamaru.

Konohamaru huffed and adjusted the long scarf around his neck.

"Who cares? He's a _nuke-nin_, isn't he? Why is the village relying on someone like him?"

"Orochimaru's power increases daily," began Ebisu in his official "lecture tone." "It is not uncommon for hidden villages to rely on foreign powers such as missing nin."

"But I thought villages only used missing nin when they wanted to hide what they were doing," suggested Udon, who had always been the best student of the three and always remembered things even from the Academy lessons Konohamaru had pretty much forgotten.

"Missing nin are used when the village wants to do something that no one can trace back to the village, right, _sensei_?"

Ebisu's lips pursed together at Udon's short explanation, which meant that he had—once again—gotten shown up by his student. Konohamaru almost chuckled. That happened more with his team than any other one he knew, and he enjoyed it tremendously.

"One kilometer."

Konohamaru jerked at the sudden declaration in the as-yet unfamiliar voice. He looked up ahead for their extra member, worried that he had heard exactly what Udon thought of _nuke-nin_. But Raiden wasn't anywhere on the path of the thick concrete wall. In fact, Konohamaru couldn't even sense the man anywhere. Then, a strange mop of messy brown hair caught his eye on the other side of the wall. Konohamaru peered over the edge of Konoha's outer wall, down the side that faced the bordering forest around the village. Raiden stood on the side of the concrete wall with one shoulder to the ground while the other hand faced the sky. He had his arms crossed over his chest while his red coat hung down towards the ground.

"What?" Ebisu questioned, sounding just as puzzled as Konohamaru felt.

"You asked how far my range is," replied Raiden.

His eyes were discolored again, but now Konohamaru could see that his pupils were the wrong shape as well. He winced in place of the disgusted face he wanted to pull. Raiden raised one hand and pointed to the northwest.

"I can feel six people coming from that direction," he explained. "About a kilometer away. They're not Konoha nin."

"How do you know?" Udon persisted.

Raiden tossed the boy a glance over one shoulder then broke into a wide smile that seemed too large for his face.

"Konoha chakra is always so damn happy," Raiden chuckled.

Konohamaru was about to snap something back—some retort he didn't have quite ready yet—but Raiden's face turned serious before he could fully formulate his answer.

"There's another team approaching from the east," the man announced and pointed to the opposite side of Konoha. "Feels the same: six genin."

Ebisu furrowed his brows into his thinking face then snapped his attention on his team.

"Moegi-san, you go to the gate and report on the team approaching from the east," he ordered.

"_Hai_."

Moegi darted off quickly. Konohamaru didn't protest his teacher's orders for once. He didn't really want to see Moegi involved in battle. She worked great at the hospital, under Sakura-chan and Shizune-san, but she was always too hesitant when it came to fighting someone one-on-one. He and Udon usually handled that. Konohamaru looked back to his team and saw Raiden, still perched sideways on the wall, studying the figures above him intently. Konohamaru frowned and wondered if the man knew exactly what Ebisu-_sensei_ was doing.

"Four against six," noted Raiden with a wide grin. "I like our odds."

"How far away are they?" Ebisu demanded, completely professional.

Raiden's face turned back to the forest, his position on the wall making him bend his neck into an odd angle.

"I'd say about two hundred and fifty meters," he replied. "I'd get ready."

Konohamaru glanced at Udon to his side. His teammate looked a little nervous, so Konohamaru fisted his hand and slugged Udon's shoulder.

"Bet I can get more than you," he teased his friend.

Udon's eyes widened in surprise for a moment before he swallowed hard.

"You're on." Udon's smile became braver as he nodded.

"Here they come." Raiden grinned and gestured to the forest below him.

Suddenly, Raiden leapt from the concrete wall and landed easily on a tree branch a few meters away from the wall. Konohamaru could see the approaching ninja, carrying weapons that looked completely wrong for a full frontal assault. One of the Oto nin had a _tanto_ while the others had weapons pouches similar to the ones he and Udon wore—useful only for carrying kunai or shiruken, but nothing larger. And all six of their attackers looked all of about twelve years old.

Raiden disappeared from the tree branch for a moment. Konohamaru couldn't track him until he heard heavy feet hit the ground behind the Oto ninja. Half of the attackers paused and quickly looked behind them to see a tall man in a red coat folding his arms over his chest just to add to his menacing stature.

"Hi there," Raiden greeted calmly.

Three of the Oto genin still charged toward the wall. Konohamaru gritted his teeth and took off running down the side of the wall that protected his village. Planting his feet on the wall, he vaulted off the side of the concrete barrier and twisted in the air to land on his feet. He snatched a kunai from his pouch and spun to face the light-haired genin from Oto.

"Mine!" he shouted, just so that Udon wouldn't chest on their competition.

The teenage chuunin gripped the handle of the kunai tightly and thrust it forward as if it were a sword instead of a knife. His opponent raised a flat-bladed _tanto_ to block the attack and then watched in shock as Konohamaru's kunai sliced through the Oto blade.

Shikamaru had just started teaching Konohamaru the finer points of nature manipulation a few months ago, saying if the sixteen-year-old wanted to follow Shikamaru around so much he might as well learn something useful. Shikamaru still kept the chakra knives that Konohamaru remembered seeing with Asuma-_ji-san_, but Konohamaru couldn't begrudge him that—not really.

Konohamaru lunged forward and planted his blade into the Oto nin's chest. He withdrew it quickly before the boy had a chance to fall.

"One for me," he called, flicking his wrist to shake the blood off his kunai.

He glanced around to see how Udon was doing in comparison, but his eyes fell on Raiden instead. The man's eyes were still discolored and malformed, but his face was serious. One of the Oto genin was behind him, unconscious and bound to the trunk of a tree with ninja wire. Raiden faced two other genin at once. He balled his fist and punched at the empty air between his two attackers. At first, Konohamaru thought Raiden's funny eyes had made him cross-eyed as well, but then both Oto genin suddenly flew up and away from Raiden's fist—as if the shockwaves alone from his punch had blown the genin back. One flew back against the concrete wall of Konoha, knocking him out, while the second collided with a teammate.

Raiden looked up, his eyes scanning the area until they came to rest on the boy staring back at him. Then, Raiden grinned.

"And you guys call this a C-rank?" demanded the man with golden eyes. "My first C mission was ten times harder than this."

"Maybe that's 'cuz you're a criminal," taunted Konohamaru.

To his surprise, Raiden squinted until his eyes closed and stuck out his tongue, pulling a face that belonged on a five-year-old. Suddenly, Raiden's eyes popped open with a look that was almost scared, and his head snapped to his left. Konohamaru followed his gaze and saw Udon struggling with his opponent. While Ebisu-_sensei_ was busy trying to capture the boy he fought instead of killing him, the boy that faced Udon slashed at the Konoha chuunin with a kunai and dodged the lunge that Udon made in response.

The Oto genin leapt over Udon's outstretched arm and continued running toward the wall behind Konoha's team. Konohamaru rushed forward to intercept him, but he still wasn't as fast as the older, temporary teammate he had never wanted. Just as the genin reached for the wall with one empty hand, Raiden wrapped his hand around the boy's wrist and jerked him to a stop. Undeterred, the boy shot out his other hand and slapped the stone wall.

"Ha!" the boy shouted triumphantly.

Konohamaru stopped short and threw out one arm to keep Udon from coming any closer. The boy could have put an exploding tag on the wall or thrown some corrosive agent on there, meant to burn an entrance into the village. Raiden frowned at the wall where the boy's hand had previously been then transferred his frown to the boy.

"You came all this way to tag a wall?" he demanded.

"What the heck?" Konohamaru echoed.

The only remaining conscious enemy decided Raiden was responsible for his situation and glared at him.

"If we can complete a D-rank mission, we get to be in Orochimaru-sama's army," he declared.

"Army?" repeated Udon in a disbelieving voice.

Raiden's gold eyes relaxed from his frown, but he kept staring at the boy he held in place.

"Kid," he finally sighed, "there are so many things wrong with that statement—"

He never finished the thought, sighing as he shoved the boy toward Ebisu.

"Tie him up, knock him out, whatever," Raiden ordered. "Maybe someone else can figure out what the hell _orochi-teme_ is thinking."

Ebisu pressed on the back of the boy's neck until his eyes rolled back in his head. Raiden turned to survey the two chuunin, his eyes scanning in both Konohamaru and Udon. Catching sight of the bleeding genin on the ground where Konohamaru left him, Raiden walked up to the body and bent over to examine the body. After a moment, he straightened back up.

"This one's dead," announced Raiden.

Konohamaru met Raiden's gaze evenly and refused to flinch. He was a shinobi of Konohagakure, and he wouldn't back down, ever. Raiden looked over Konohamaru like he was studying the teenager; his eyes were back to gray instead of the misshapen gold they had been, and Konohamaru couldn't help the thought that Raiden was looking for something specific in Konohamaru. Then, the gray eyes softened as Raiden nodded. Konohamaru shrugged uncomfortably and tried to bury the feeling that he had just past a test—and the sneaky thought that Raiden's eyes had reminded him of his grandfather's.

"We need to bring the captives to T and I," announced Ebisu. He had the unconscious genin slung over one shoulder. "Do you know how the other team did?"

Raiden closed his eyes and bowed his head toward the ground. He stayed in that position for long enough to make Konohamaru start bouncing on his heels anxiously. When the man finally raised his head again, his eyes were gold.

"I can't feel any more of Oto's goons," Raiden replied. "They're either out of my range or dead."

"I'm hoping for dead," muttered Konohamaru.

Raiden shot him a look that was part disappointment and mostly resignation that Konohamaru flinched from. But suddenly, two jounin appeared in front of Ebisu, and he didn't have any more time to consider what made Raiden look so old and so young at the same time.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru blew out a puff of air through pursed lips. He wasn't forbidden from smoking in the records room of the Hokage Tower, but every time he did, Shizune somehow managed to find him and lecture him on the health hazards of smoking. He had long since stopped trying to let out his stress while studying old papers.

Shikamaru delved into the battered, metal filing cabinet against the wall and thumbed his way through the names of past _shinobi_ of Konohagakure. The list was longer than he expected and held some names that he knew had to be from the time of the First and Second Hokage's time. He was pretty sure he recognized the name of his own grandfather among them. Finally, he passed over a name he didn't recognize—it had a strange symbol next to it that somewhat resembled the spiral on the back of his own jounin vest—and Shikamaru came to the file he had spent an hour looking for. He wrapped his hand around the thick file and slipped out the mass of papers labeled clearly _Uzumaki Naruto_.

Slapping the folder down on a metal table, Shikamaru drew up a chair and untied the thin string that held the papers in the folder. It felt a little dirty to look at Naruto's official file, like betraying a trust or walking over someone's grave. But Shikamaru buried that feeling deep and started reading.

The initial stats and report on the first page seemed standard. Listed in typical stark fashion were the numbers of Naruto's height and weight from when he was sixteen, at the time of his death. Under relations, Shikamaru saw a straight black mark obstructing a name while the name he had seen in the cabinet, Uzumaki Kushina, followed. Shikamaru ignored this and flipped the page. He had his own theories about that, but they could wait.

The following pages covered Naruto's childhood. There was an old birth certificate, again with names and details blacked out. A form for guardianship for Uzumaki Naruto, age six, showed the transference of guardianship from Sarutobi Hiruzen to the village proper of Konohagakure. Shikamaru flipped it over and paged through reports from teachers at the Shinobi Academy of Naruto's unruliness and absences. Shikamaru actually remembered one of those times. Naruto and Kiba had convinced him and Chouji to skip out on Iruka-sensei's lesson on chakra control. Shikamaru took a handful of papers and flipped again, needing something more recent.

The next form he saw was a mission report: an A-rank to support the team led by Nara Shikamaru against the Akatsuki team of Hidan and Kakuzu. Shikamaru moved on to the next before his mind could dwell too deeply on the implications. There weren't very many papers after that. It had only been a few weeks following that Pein had made his final attack on Konoha.

Toward the end of the file made up by the mass of papers that detailed Naruto's life coldly, Shikamaru found what he was looking for. It wasn't even an official form or a complete square of paper. It was a torn corner of what looked like an exploding tag, but Shikamaru knew the symbol—what he could see of it—wasn't related to either Fire or Lightning. He could only make out a piece of the center symbol, and he wasn't sure what the inked design that served as a border was meant as. It most resembled a summoning contract, but there wasn't enough of it for him to be sure.

But even if he wasn't sure, it was enough for Shikamaru's plans. He stuffed the torn paper into his pocket and reassembled the file, tying the string back in place. Equipped with the final piece of evident, Shikamaru was ready for his first move. He slid Naruto's folder back into the filing cabinet and left the room, closing the door firmly behind him.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke balanced the chopsticks between his fingers and steadfastly ignored the sound of poorly stifled giggles. Even the one that seemed to hate Sasuke, Kaito, had to smother his mouth with a white napkin to disguise his chortles as choking. Sakura, meanwhile, kept staring at Sasuke as if she expected him to explode at any moment. Only Genkei—_Raiden_—remained calm. Then again, he _was_ the one responsible for Sasuke's current look, so maybe he was immune to the children's amusement.

Sasuke looked up from the supper of _onigiri_ and _sukiyaki_ and glared at the giggling kids, his eyes falling on Mako arbitrarily. The boy, apparently, was not intimidated.

"Um, Sasuke." Sakura raised one hand to stroke the hair by her left temple. "You still have some confetti right—"

Sasuke cut her off with a harsh growl as he swept a hand through his hair, dispelling the colorful scraps of paper and raining them down on the table and into his food. Mako laughed out loud, and even Raiden joined in the general merriment. Sasuke turned his glare onto the man across the table from him.

"You find this amusing," he demanded.

Raiden was still grinning as he leaned back.

"Ah, _teme _can't take a joke," he taunted. "C'mon, I just wanted to show you that I won. It's not like it was a real exploding tag."

Sasuke continued to glare. It didn't matter that the small scrap of paper wasn't a real exploding tag; Sasuke was more concerned with what could have happened if the paper _had _been an exploding tag or something worse. No one had beaten him that easily since he returned to Konoha, especially in such a brief scuffle. And, what was even worse to Sasuke, the man sitting at his own table didn't even take his victory seriously. He treated it like a successful prank. It was like something Naruto would do.

"Sasuke," Sakura called gently. "If it didn't do any damage—"

"You're taking his side," Sasuke snapped, more of an accusation than a question.

"Sasuke," Sakura tried once again to be the peacemaker.

Sasuke only stood abruptly from the low table, dropped his chopsticks with a clatter, and stomped out of the house, emitting a fair amount of _sakki_ as he left. Behind his back, he noted that the kids had mostly stopped giggling. But Sasuke wasn't about to give them the satisfaction of making him look over his shoulder. He slid the door closed behind him and stood on the _engawa_ for a moment, unsure of his direction. He had only wanted to get out of a house where the occupants acted more like a broken team that resembled a family he had once known.

"I'm sorry, Sakura," Raiden sighed through the door behind Sasuke.

Sasuke started to stomp down the beaten path that led away from the house before he heard the reason for Raiden's apology.

"I never meant to come between you and him."

He sounded truly sorry, which only bothered Sasuke more. Why should Raiden care about what Sasuke thought of Sakura? Never mind that Sasuke hadn't looked at her as anything more than a teammate since his return. Some people continued to speculate on their relationship, but Sakura was just the one person that Sasuke talked to most often. Even that was only because she didn't demand that he live his life like everything was normal again. She, at least, had _some_ idea of what Sasuke had lost because she had been with Naruto far longer than he had.

"The only thing that's ever been between me and Sasuke is our teammate." Sakura's voice was laced with grief.

"Your teammate?" That was Kaito, the dark kid who had once been close enough to Orochimaru for the snake to take interest.

"You were on the same team as Uchiha, Sakura-chan?" Mako chimed in.

There was a pause in the conversation, and Sasuke found himself curious despite himself. Not about what Sakura would say about him, but about what she would say about Naruto. Raiden already knew of Naruto, just enough to insult him every time he brought up the name. Sasuke wondered what Raiden would say about the _jinchuuriki_ of the Nine-Tails when he heard about the boy from Sakura's mouth.

Sasuke leaped to the roof and sat at the peak just above where he knew the three kids and two adults were still seated at the table. Masking his chakra swiftly, he counted on the fact that Raiden would be too distracted to draw on his strange power that allowed him to sense chakra signatures.

"Sasuke and I have been teammates since we were genin," Sakura's answer floated up to the watcher on the roof. "Our teammate . . ."

The pause hung heavily in the air, and Sasuke willed himself not to feel anything.

"He had a way of making people look at him," Sakura continued. "When we were young, he was always trying to take me on a date. I think he was the only person that Sasuke really . . . acknowledged, even back then."

Sasuke's first instinct was to deny that claim, even coming from someone who knew both him and Naruto as well as Sakura did. But, alone in the darkening night, Sasuke could almost admit that Sakura had truly come closest to the truth. Naruto, by sheer force of tenacity, made people look at him. Even Sasuke wasn't immune to that strange power. Even he couldn't ignore the boy who became his friend.

"Where's he now?" inquired Mako. "Your teammate?"

"He was killed four years ago," Sakura answered. "Sasuke still blames himself."

Sasuke's stomach jerked at that supposition, but Raiden's immediate response didn't leave Sasuke much time to contemplate how Sakura had figured that one out.

"What?" Raiden cried suddenly. "Why would he?"

Sasuke was surprised by the sudden outburst; not only because Raiden had been notoriously silent throughout the exchange, but also because the man actually sounded outraged. Did he suspect Sasuke was truly responsible for the death of a comrade? Sasuke's eyes blazed at the thought. The _dobe _had chosen to throw himself in between Sasuke and the Akatsuki's attack. Sasuke couldn't do anything about it. It was _Naruto's_ fault for being so stupid. If the idiot wasn't so damn self-sacrificing, the _hitai-ate_ on Sasuke's brow would be where it belonged: on Naruto's head.

"I think he feels it was his fault he wasn't strong enough," Sakura explained. "He was strong enough to take his revenge, but—"

"But you're always stronger when you're protecting someone," interrupted Raiden. "Yeah."

The words, almost familiar, made Sasuke's stomach attempt a butterfly knot and then sink heavily when it failed. The rule that one only got stronger with someone at one's back—to protect or to help—was at the heart of Konoha. It was accepted, tried, and true according to Sasuke's generation, who taught the younger ones what it meant. It was the reason so many other villages nicknamed Konoha nin "tree-huggers."

It was also one of the last things Naruto had taught Sasuke.

"I'm going for a walk." Raiden suddenly announced.

Sasuke heard the man shuffle about in the house beneath him.

"Can we come?" Mako, again. He seemed to be the one student who was most dedicated to his _sensei_, if one didn't count Kaito's hatred of Sasuke as protectiveness.

"Maybe later."

The door opened then closed swiftly, and Sasuke saw the figure of a young man with brown hair trudge slowly down the path away from the Uchiha house. He didn't even glance back, and his eyes didn't rise to the sky, so Sasuke guessed that Raiden hadn't been aware of his eavesdropper's presence. Sasuke heard Sakura murmur something about dishes, but he didn't move to go back inside or wander about the city like Raiden was doing. Instead, Sasuke only tipped his head back to look at the sky.

Sasuke didn't allow himself to consider 'what if' very often. He thought it was a waste of time. No amount of dreaming would bring the dead back; he had learned that at an early age. But there were certain things he was absolutely sure of: If Madara and Itachi hadn't murdered his entire clan, Sasuke would come home to his mother's cooking every night. If he ever showed more than passing interest in a girl, certain members of the Council would be pressing him to marry to extend the lineage of the Sharingan. If Naruto had lived . . .

If Naruto had lived, life would be better in Konoha. Sasuke wasn't even sure _how _it would be better. He only knew that sometimes he missed Naruto. He missed having someone near him who would _believe_ in him, no matter what. In the brief and rare times when Sasuke actually dared to put words to his feelings, he would say that he could face any amount of hate if Naruto were beside him, thinking up the best prank for the ones who dared to insult his friend.

Sasuke stared up at the twilight sky. The stars were just beginning to come out, starting with the brightest one low by the eastern horizon. He heard the clatter of china below him and looked down to see the Kaito and Mako exit the house, speaking in low tones to each other. Sasuke stood up, ready to jump down and demand what the boys were doing, when the answer suddenly became obvious. Kaito shoved at Mako's arm with half-hearted annoyance before the two boys faced each other and raised their hands into fighting positions. Mako balled his hands into fists right away while Kaito's hands remained loose like some ancient fighting style.

Sasuke turned, left the boys to their camaraderie, and let himself fall to the _engawa_, determined not to about either Raiden or his students for the rest of the night.

**o0O0o**

Naruto wandered around the village for a while without paying attention to his surroundings. It wasn't like he was expecting an attack just because of his name anymore—well, except in the case of Sasuke-teme—and he wasn't interested enough in the little ways Konoha had changed and grown to study the darkening lights in the streets. Naruto only looked up when he saw a well-manicured lawn on one side of the street where buildings built closely together had previously been. He turned and walked up the beaten dirt path into Konoha's Memorial Field.

The green field was empty in the dim light of dusk, and Naruto was kind of pleased at that. He didn't fall into contemplative moods often; he was too busy with living in the present, and the kids usually kept him on his toes if his enemies didn't. Naruto didn't want anyone to see him so broody. That was Sasuke's department.

Naruto saw the tall, pale stone immediately and let his feet carry him to it. Three stout poles sat in front of the memorial stone for the purpose of holding offerings and food—or holding unruly genin who needed to be taught a lesson. The evening breeze was cool against Naruto's face as he studied the stone.

"Are you visiting someone, Genkei-san?" came a calm voice from behind him.

"Just looking."

Naruto threw a glance over his shoulder just to confirm, but yes, that really was Shikamaru in his jounin vest with a cigarette hanging from his lips. Naruto thought he could see the shadow of stubble along his jaw, like Shikamaru had forgotten to shave that day. Any other time, Naruto would have pounced on the opportunity to tease his friend about his mangy looks and the pains of getting older. But Naruto just turned back to the memorial stone and let his eyes trail over the official _hiragana_.

"There's a lot of names here," he noted.

It was at least more than he remembered. He knew, somewhere in the back of mind where he put things he didn't really like to think of; that a war against Otogakure would mean casualties. And yet, Naruto only felt relieved that he didn't recognize any of the more recent names carved into the stone.

"It's a list of Konoha's greatest heroes," Shikamaru informed him.

"It's a memorial," Naruto snapped back, a little harsher than he intended. But he already felt guilty for thinking of his friends when others had already lost their lives. He turned his back on Shikamaru and frowned at the stone. "It's got too many names on it."

"Any ninja of Konoha would be proud to be listed there."

"I know."

Naruto grit his teeth to keep the rest of his words back in his throat. He knew how important it was to be on the stone. Heck, he was on the stone, and how stupid was that, to be staring at his own name. Right there, halfway down the third column. Naruto's hands became fists.

"But if I can put an end to this war without any more people dying, that's what I'll do, Shikamaru," Naruto declared. "I promise that."

He couldn't do anything about his name or his status with the village, not with Danzou still alive. But he could do what he always promised he would do: protect his precious people.

"And you never break your promises, do you?" Shikamaru asked pointedly. "Naruto."

Naruto's head jerked up, but he managed to stop himself before he spun around to gape at Shikamaru. Damn, damn, _stupid_ genius.

"What did you say?" he demanded and hoped his voice sounded indignant rather than strangled.

The silence that followed his demand only served to increase the tension. Then Naruto heard a soft exhalation as the smell of smoke tickled his nose.

"Naruto," Shikamaru repeated.

Somehow hearing the name again from someone who should have been familiar calmed Naruto. This was just another prank. He could pull this off.

Naruto raised his chin and turned his head just enough to glance over his shoulder at his friend.

"You should get your eyes checked, Nara," declared Naruto. "You're starting to see ghosts."

Shikamaru raised his cigarette to his mouth again and kept one hand in his pocket. Naruto suddenly had a feeling he knew what the genius' enemies faced every time they saw Shikamaru in battle.

"You know things about Konoha only someone from here would," Shikamaru stated calmly.

"What? About the Inuzuka?" Naruto waved one hand carelessly through the air. "I already told you, people weren't always so scared of me. Yeah, I worked with Konoha before. And with Suna, and Tea Country, and Kumo. I could tell you what kind of music Raikage likes if you want."

Actually, he wasn't quite sure of Raikage's preferences anymore. Even a brother _had_ to get sick of all that rapping after a while.

"About _Kyuubi no Kitsune_ and a dream to be Hokage," corrected Shikamaru.

"He never kept that quiet," Naruto protested, still cursing his slip from that morning. "Did you know the host of _rokubi_ was Yondaime Mizukage? Iwa had two, the _yonbi _and the _gobi_. What the hell else do you want to know about _jinchuuriki_?"

Shikamaru finally withdrew his hand from his pocket, holding a scrap of paper that flashed in the dimming light.

"What is this?"

With a huff, as if he were only indulging Shikamaru's delusions, Naruto faced Shikamaru and took the torn piece of paper. He recognized it right away, even in its broken form. But he squinted at the paper several different ways until he was sure Shikamaru would get the point that he was confused.

"Looks like a summoning seal," Naruto admitted. He couldn't deny that part of his own creation. "Whaddar ya gonna do? Try to pull a rabbit out for me?"

All this sarcasm was getting to him. Naruto hated acting like he didn't care about anything, but Shikamaru _wasn't_ allowed to know. He thought he saw a flicker of a frown dart across Shikamaru's forehead as he took back the paper and replaced it in his pocket. Naruto's back teeth came together, and he allowed the brief surge of triumph in his gut to bolster his courage. Naruto knew better than anyone that getting under a person's skin was the best form of distraction. Finally, Shikamaru looked back up at Naruto, his eyes calm and composed once more.

"You pranked Sasuke," he said.

Naruto couldn't help it. He burst out laughing. For all Shikamaru's vast intellect and probing mind, his final argument was a _prank_? Naruto wrapped his arms around his stomach and doubled over, laughing until he was gasping for breath.

"So what?" Naruto chuckled, finally straightening again. "The _teme_ needs to lighten up."

Naruto's smile grew abruptly tight.

"He was friends with your ghost, Naruto, _ne_?" he demanded. "Why isn't he here chewing my ass out?"

Shikamaru took a long drag from his cigarette and stared at Naruto uncompromisingly. Naruto glared back and thought that Shikamaru should be a poker player rather than _shogi_. He could probably win enough to fund a whole village himself.

"What do you care who I am?" Naruto snapped. "I'll be gone once this war is over. I only came for a chance to kill the snake."

"You'd leave your students here?" Shikamaru sounded disinclined to believe it.

"Maybe I'm sick of having a bunch of kids followin' me around."

That was a blatant lie, and Naruto knew Shikamaru would pick up on that. He wasn't that good an actor to say that all the care and attention he had given his three students was a lie. Naruto focused on the heat in his gut and changed his anger at being forced to lie into anger at the man saying he was someone who was supposed to have died.

"You think you're the only one with ghosts, Nara?" spat the voice of Genkei of Hafuko. "I saw people die in Ame—good people—because of _my_ fight. Even Nagato—he only wanted peace."

"Who's Nagato?" Shikamaru frowned.

Naruto seized the opportunity. No one but the toads knew who Pein had been in the past, and none of them contacted Konoha anymore.

"We were under the same _shishou_," he answered honestly. "He died after his last jutsu wiped him out. He gave his life for me."

Everything he said was true—Naruto knew he was a terrible liar, so he avoided it whenever he could. Nagato had been under Jiraiya at one time, the same as Naruto was. And he really did die after his final jutsu. Only, Konan had agreed to take her last friend away and care for him until his body wore out, as it inevitably would. Naruto forgot about a rain-soaked battlefield and concentrated on the battle he was currently fighting.

"I'm going to kill Orochimaru if I have to use _Kamikaze_ to do it," Naruto growled. "You only get one warning, Nara: Don't get in my way."

Naruto stomped past Shikamaru, making sure to knock his shoulder rudely against Shikamaru's body. He didn't look back on his way down the beaten path and back to the main street, but he was aware enough of Shikamaru's position to know that he wasn't being followed.

Only once he was halfway to the Uchiha Complex did Naruto open his hands and stare at the faint lines of pink beneath his fingernails, the skin on his palms already healing in rows of short half-moons.

**o0O0o**

Mei sat on the floor the bedroom she shared with Sakura-_hime_ and paged through the book in front of her. It was one of _sensei_'s stories, the one about the _samurai_ who married a crane-woman, and the pictures were beautiful. Mei loved stories about princesses and heroes, and _all _of _sensei_'s stories had princesses and heroes in them. He didn't have very many books, though. He mostly told his stories the way he remembered them, but they always turned out the same so it was all right. The hero always defeated the evil villain and rescued the princess. Usually he got a kiss in the end, too.

Mei closed the book and sat up, glancing around the room. _Sensei_ wasn't back from his walk yet, but Uchiha-san had reappeared while Sakura-_hime _was cleaning up and sent the kids off. Kaito and Mako had immediately gone outside, while Mei sat quietly in the girls' room. But there was only so long she could look once again at the same book and the same pictures. She looked around the room carefully. She didn't want to get into any trouble by messing up Sakura-_hime_'s things, but she was curious.

The futon still sat rolled up against the wall of the room, next to a small _tansu_ that held all of Mei's clothes, as well as Sakura's. There was a shelf near to the floor on the opposite wall of the room that held a stout vase of purple orchids. Mei tip-toed over to the vase and bent down to smell the large flowers. A small pack sat next to the vase, a set of belongings that Sakura-_hime_ described as knick-knacks. Mei had never seen knick-knacks before and wondered what they looked like. It wouldn't be _too _bad if the pack was open just a bit and she could peek inside, would it?

Mei nudged the mouth of the small bundle with her fingers and tried to see inside the dark of the cloth. There was a red ribbon, a little old and frayed along the ends, lying on top of the bundle. Mei pulled it out carefully, pinching it between two fingers, and smiled at the pretty thing. She folded it and laid it beside the orchids before reaching into the small bag again.

Her fingers brushed against something hard and flat and wrapped around a corner of the object. It felt like a rectangle. Mei withdrew the object, a plain wooden frame, and turned it over in her hands to see a picture behind a thin sheet of glass. A man with gray, wild hair stood out as the tallest in the picture, but Mei couldn't see much of his face. It was too much covered by the crooked _hitai-ate_ and the blue mask over the bottom of his face. The man had his right hand on the head of a dark boy with shaggy hair. The boy glared at Mei as if she was responsible for all his discomfort. At the boy's side stood a young girl with pink hair whose eyes scrunched up as she smiled happily. That had to be Sakura-_hime_. So, the boy was Uchiha-san, and this picture was Sakura-_hime_'s team. Finally, Mei's eyes drifted to the final figure in the photo.

The boy at Sakura's left side looked angry and disgruntled. He was shooting a glare over little Sakura's head to the dark boy who was still glaring at the camera. But Mei ran her fingers over the boy's face and stared. The boy's hair was the same exact shade as _sensei_'s, and it even stuck up in every direction like _sensei_'s did. The boy was gritting his teeth, and Mei had never seen _sensei_ do that, exactly, but she _had _seen him narrow his eyes sideways like that. And then, finally, there were marks on the boy's cheeks, three on each side. Mei had _only_ seen that on _sensei_.

Ignoring the rest of the knick-knacks and the ribbon she had so carefully laid out, Mei jumped to her feet and ran through the hall and out the door. In the grass behind the small house, Kaito and Mako faced each other with their hands raised like _sensei_ had taught them.

"Mako-kun! Kaito-kun!" Mei called as she waved the framed photo above her head.

Both boys stopped their mock-fight to look at the younger girl.

"What happened?" Mako immediately demanded.

"Look what I found!"

Mei held the picture up to the two boys, who leaned in closely to the offering.

"That's _sensei_!" crowed Mei triumphantly.

Mako had been looking for clues about _sensei_ around the village since they arrived yesterday. This had to count for something.

"Are you sure?" asked Kaito. "He looks really young."

"That guy looks about our age." Mako pointed to the dark-haired boy in the picture.

"That's Uchiha-san," Mei pointed out. "And that's Sakura-_hime_. She said she was on the same team as him."

"Yeah," Mako said thoughtfully.

Mei stood still and waited for Mako to agree with her and tell her she did well to find something like this. But suddenly, Mako wrenched the photo frame from Mei's grasp and darted into the house.

"Hey!" Kaito shouted after him indignantly.

"Mako-kun!" Mei raced to follow the light-haired boy back into the house while Kaito followed close behind her.

Mei and Kaito caught up to Mako just as he entered the living room and marched up to where Sakura-_hime _was sitting at the low table and studying a scroll. Sasuke looked up from his position leaning against the wall as the three kids barged in, but Mako ignored the dark brooder and thrust the photo under Sakura's nose.

"Who is this?" he demanded.

"Mako-kun!" Mei pulled at his shoulder, trying to get him to back away. "That's rude!"

Sakura-_hime_ would know now that Mei had been looking through something she wasn't supposed to. Kaito hung back in the room, keeping an eye on Uchiha-san while Sakura-_hime_ froze and stared at the picture Mako held.

"Where did you get that?" Her voice sounded slightly strangled.

Mei flushed guiltily and looked down with her fingers still tangled in Mako's _yukata_.

"I found it in the room, Sakura-_hime_," she admitted.

Silence settled in the room while Mei stared at the table's surface.

"This is my genin team," Sakura finally answered.

When Mei looked back up again, Sakura-_hime_ was smiling at the photo. She turned the picture back to her audience and used one finger to point out each of the figures.

"That's me," she announced needlessly as her finger fell on the long pink hair. "That's Sasuke-kun, and that's our _sensei_, Hatake Kakashi."

"What about this kid?" Mako persisted and jabbed his finger at the mini-version of _sensei_.

Sakura-_hime_'s face fell from her soft smile into sadness.

"That's our other teammate," she answered. "The one who died."

Mei saw Kaito edge a bit closer to the table, curious despite his declaration that he didn't need to know anything about _sensei_ that _sensei_ didn't want to tell.

"He had a name, right?" Mako was almost grinning in anticipation. "He wasn't just some kid who died to you."

"His name," interjected Uchiha-san, "was Uzumaki Naruto."

* * *

A/N: Surprisingly, this chapter took me longer than I thought. But after a couple of characters hijacked my scenes for their very own, plus a very lovely brainstorming session with my beta, Rawrmander, I give you chapter six—in which Shikamaru is putting his giant brain to good use and Naruto is getting worried. You'll find out why later, I promise.

Only one other note: Mei's book on the crane-wife was actually inspired by art I found by qianyu on DeviantArt, especially "10th Night" and "Bloom." Pretty stuff. I highly recommend.

Sincerely,

Fia

_engawa_ – a wooden porch that wraps around a traditional Japanese porch. Very useful for removing shoes before coming into the house for politeness' sake.

_oyabun _– "boss," usually used in the _yakuza_ culture, but it's also what Konohamaru calls Naruto.

_sukiyaki _– a Japanese hot pot dish usually consisting of meat, tofu, leafy vegetables and noodles all cooked in the same pot.

Urashima Ebisu – Ebisu is the Japanese god of fishermen, good luck, and workingmen, as well as the guardian of the health of small children (appropriate for his initial appearance as Konohamaru's teacher). As far as I know he doesn't have a last name, so I took the name Urashima from the tale of Urashima Taro, kind of the Japanese version of Rip Van Winkle, in keeping with Kishimoto-_sensei_'s tendency to name his characters after Japanese mythology.


	8. In Which He Regrets

Chapter 7: In Which He Regrets

_The object of war is to survive it._

~ John Irving

**o0O0o**

"Naruto," Mei repeated deliberately, as if testing out the name. "Uzumaki Naruto."

Sasuke frowned at the girl. He had no experience with children, so he had no idea what she was trying to do. But Mei was practically singing his friend's name while staring up at the ceiling in what could only constitute a _dreamy_ fashion. The other kids weren't much better.

"Naruto." Kaito had a silly smile on his face; it was the closest Sasuke had seen the boy come to laughing.

Sasuke ground his teeth together and reminded himself that he couldn't snap at the kids. If he snapped, Sakura would reprimand him, and that was just hard on his ears. But they were _laughing _at Naruto. Sasuke didn't want Naruto's name to be exposed to a trio of kids who found it amusing that there had been a boy named for a ramen topping.

"He was a hero," Sasuke stated, although his voice came out mostly as a growl. "His name is carved into a stone that holds all the names of Konoha's greatest heroes."

Despite his obviously foul mood, Mei's face lit up at Sasuke's declaration.

"See, Mako." She turned to the oldest boy, who retained his gobsmacked look. "You were right—"

The sound of the wooden door sliding open in the night interrupted Mei's excited cry. As one, the kids turned and watched their _sensei_ slump into the house with his shoulders hanging heavy around him.

"_Sensei_," Mei sang out. "Guess what—"

Suddenly, Mako's arm snaked around Mei's shoulders, and his hand slapped over the girl's open mouth, cutting off her words. Mako hurriedly sketched a quick bow in Sakura's direction.

"We're sorry for your loss, Sakura-san," he said in what had to be the most serious tone Sasuke had ever heard from him. "He would have made a great Hokage."

With his hand still over Mei's mouth, Mako hurried toward the _fusuma_, grabbing Kaito's wrist as he left. Sakura watched the paper door slam close behind the three kids while Raiden, still not saying a word, craned his neck to watch his students depart as if they were fleeing an enemy. Slowly, the man turned his head to Sakura.

"What the hell were you talking about?"

"Nothing," Sakura answered immediately.

Sasuke saw the way Raiden frowned disbelievingly, suspiciously. He didn't want to give the man another opportunity to talk about someone he knew nothing about.

"Where have you been?" demanded Sasuke.

Raiden's head snapped to the other man with a look that Sasuke couldn't quite comprehend. It was part ghastly offence and part suppressed pain. Then, Raiden rolled his eyes and the expression disappeared.

"You sound like a jealous housewife," Raiden muttered.

Sasuke ground his teeth together to keep himself from snarling at the man. He had told himself he wasn't going to lower himself to Raiden's barbs or playful jabs, no matter what the _nuke-nin_ thought of him. Raiden shook his head tiredly and slumped his way toward the _fusuma_.

"I'm going to bed," he declared tiredly. "Nobody better bug me till morning."

He said the last part loud enough for Sasuke to guess that it was really meant for the kids. As soon as his guest slid the door closed behind him, Sakura turned to Sasuke with curiosity burning in her bright eyes.

"Do you know what that was about?"

Sasuke shook his head. He had no idea, but then he had no experience with children. Mako was right, though; Naruto _would _have made a good Hokage. At sixteen, he had known enough of politics to convince Konoha to accept Sasuke again. It was only due to the Hokage's influence that Sasuke hadn't been executed, and he knew the Hokage was willing to help him only because of Naruto. Certainly, there had been trials—still were, most days—but most of his own generation had accepted that he was back only because they knew how much his friendship had meant to Naruto. Naruto had a way of drawing people in, convincing them to change their minds, even if it was the furthest thing from common sense. He would have been a great Hokage.

Sasuke suddenly frowned at the paper door that led to the bedrooms at the back of the house. How could Mako know about Naruto's dream? The kid couldn't have had any encounter with Naruto if he didn't even know what the _dobe_ looked like. Although, Raiden had said that Naruto never kept his ambitions quiet, and Sasuke could believe that easily. Maybe Raiden had heard Naruto's boasts and passed them on to his student.

**o0O0o**

Mako licked his dry lips and tried to act like he _wasn't_ nervous. At least _sensei_ was standing in between him and Uchiha, so Mako didn't have to worry about the taller man. But _sensei _wasn't actually helping with Mako's nervous state. Yesterday, the man seemed perfectly happy to be walking down the street, even with his disguise and the seal in the shape of a _fuuma shiruken_ on his cheek. Now as Naruto-_sensei_ walked between Mako and Uchiha he wore a scowl that almost matched Uchiha's own expression, and he carried the white and red mask that he always wore when he was fighting tied to a belt on his pants. He had been grumpy ever since the previous night, and Mako hadn't dared broach the subject of his—and the others'—recent discovery to _sensei_'s face. Of course, that didn't stop Mako from thinking of him as Naruto-_sensei_ all morning.

As they approached their destination, Mako saw more kids in the area than he usually did while just walking around. The younger ones only reminded him that he was facing his challenge alone. Even if he had convinced Kaito to come with him, Sakura-chan had commandeered the boy and taken him to the hospital for a thorough check-up. Mei, finding the pretty princess/med-nin far more interesting than Mako's nerve-wrecking test, had gone with them and left _sensei_ to escort Mako to the Konoha Shinobi Academy.

Mako still didn't know why Uchiha had decided to tag along.

Most of the kids gathered outside the building were younger than Mako, probably even younger than Kaito. He saw a couple of girls sitting on a bench who reminded him of Mei. A man with mousy brown hair tied into a tail on top of his head and wearing a green vest that signified his rank strode up to Naruto-_sensei_.

"Sasuke-san," he greeted the Uchiha politely. "Can I help you?"

"Umino Iruka?"_ Sensei _asked when Uchiha said nothing.

The man shifted his gaze to _sensei_ calmly.

"Yes, what can I do for you?" Umino was polite, but no more than that.

Naruto-_sensei_ clapped one hand on Mako's shoulder.

"This is Mako," he declared. "I was told to bring him to you."

Mako glanced up at the man at his back. Even Naruto-_sensei_'s voice sounded dead. That had only happened a couple times before. The first time had been when Naruto-_sensei_ had come back from a trip—he said he had been in Tsuchi no Kuni, and Mako believed him since _sensei_ always looked guilty when he lied. Naruto-_sensei_ had been so tired for days after that trip that Mako had finally asked him if he was sick or injured. _Sensei_ had only laid one heavy hand on Mako's shoulder and cast a glance at Mei's sleeping form. That was before _sensei_ came back from Asahi with Kaito, looking just as tired and just as sad.

Umino Iruka glanced down at Mako, who immediately stopped returned his attention to the matter at hand and pushed his worry for his _sensei_ to the back of his mind—where it still put up a decently loud protest.

"I see," was all Iruka said.

"Hokage-_sama_ told me to give you this."

_Sensei_ held out a thin scroll to the teacher. Mako recognized it as the one Naruto-_sensei_ had stayed up late working on their first night here. After asking Mako a few questions about what he remembered of the orphanage before he ran away, Naruto-_sensei_ had filled the rest of the scroll with Mako's chakra-type, jutsu levels, and other things that reminded Mako of the bingo book Naruto-_sensei_ had once shown him.

"Everything's there, right?" Naruto-_sensei_ persisted.

"Yes, I see." Iruka's eyes flitted over the scroll, then he rolled it up again by twirling his wrist expertly. "And he is to be admitted to the Academy?"

"He's already been taught," replied Naruto-_sensei_. "Just test him and give him a _hitai-ate_."

Normally, this confidence in his abilities would make Mako exceedingly proud. But Naruto-_sensei_ still didn't sound like himself as he gave Mako a gentle push forward.

Mako beamed at the information, but he twisted his face into an expression of smug confidence as he craned his neck up to look at _sensei_'s face.

"I could just take yours, _sensei_."

He had heard the story of how _sensei_ got his forehead protector in his old home. Defeating a traitor and rescuing someone precious to him was pretty much the norm for _sensei_'s stories, but Mako didn't doubt that it really happened. Naruto-_sensei_ only shrugged helplessly.

"I don't got one anymore," he answered calmly.

Mako frowned at the blank tone. It never meant anything good when _sensei_ stopped smiling, even if it wasn't entirely genuine. Briefly, Mako wondered what hidden villages would do with a _hitai-ate_ that belonged to a dead guy. Naruto-_sensei _turned to go and started walking without another word.

"Mean _sensei_," Mako called after the man desperately, hoping Naruto-_sensei_ would at least fall into the old pattern of teasing they had established.

Naruto-_sensei_ turned around again and stared at Mako for a moment, while Uchiha stood by _sensei_'s side and glowered. Finally, Naruto-_sensei_ gave Mako a solemn nod.

"Be good, _kozou_," he commanded, like a father sending his kid off to school.

Well, he wasn't smiling, but at least _sensei_ sounded more like himself. At least, that was Mako's comfort as Iruka-_sensei_ led him into the large wooden building.

Mako learned quickly that Umino Iruka was _the _teacher to go to at the Academy in cases of bullying, scraped knees, failed tests, and just about every other thing that could go wrong in a building where eight-year-olds learned how to pierce someone's eye at one hundred meters. Mako only learned all of this because the entire time he was sitting at a desk in an empty classroom, struggling his way through a written test, students came into the classroom regularly and called for Iruka-_sensei_ to settle another problem. If Iruka was trying to portray a stern disposition in his place at the teacher's desk in the front of the classroom, it was ruined when he dug into his drawer for a plaster when one of the younger kids appeared in tears because his opponent had bitten his finger.

Mako puzzled over some of the answers to the test questions; history wasn't his best subject, and _sensei_ rarely used names in all his stories of the greatest heroes of all shinobi countries. But he knew enough about what Naruto-_sensei_ taught to answer questions about chakra and jutsu and elements. When he was sure there was nothing else he could add, he stood up and approached the large desk in the front of the classroom.

"I got it, Iruka-_sensei_," he announced with no small amount of pride.

He slapped the paper on the edge of Iruka's desk and placed his hands on his hips as he rocked back and forth on his heels. Iruka picked up the paper with a bemused look. Maybe he had been expecting Mako to take longer with the test.

"What's next?" Mako wasn't going to worry about any test now that he was done.

Iruka-_sensei_ cast his eyes over Mako once, as if judging his weight and height. Or maybe his strength.

"Well, can you perform basic jutsu such as—"

"Sure," Mako interrupted excitedly. "I'm really good at Earth jutsu, and _sensei_ taught me some Wind jutsu. Kaito's better at them than me, though."

Mako didn't really mind that Kaito was the same element as _sensei_ while Mako wasn't. Mako had been with the man longer, even if Kaito was more fiercely dependent on him. Anyway, Mako knew he knew enough cool jutsu to suitably impress Iruka-_sensei_. The man was already looking at Mako with both eyebrows raised impressively.

"I was going to ask for a _bunshin_," Iruka-_sensei_ clarified calmly.

Mako smirked. Just a _bunshin_ was way too boring.

"I'll do ya one better."

The boy held up his hands in a simple seal and pulled at the warm feeling he knew was his chakra.

_ "Kage Bunshin_!"

Three sets of Mako's wide grin all faced Iruka-_sensei_ proudly. The older teacher's eyes widened suddenly before he stood and reached over the desk to lay his hand on the boy on the far right, as if he couldn't _quite_ tell that Mako had actually pulled off what he did. But then, Iruka-_sensei_ frowned.

"Where did you learn that jutsu?" Iruka's tone was disapproving, and Mako lost his grin. "That is a kinjutsu."

"Yeah, I know," answered Mako in a more subdued voice. "Dangerous if you make too many and run out of chakra, and then if you let them go all at once your brain might explode."

Maybe that wasn't the right way to say it, but that was how Naruto-_sensei_ had explained it. It was the first jutsu he had ever learned from _sensei_, but it came with a hell of a footnote. Mako raised his hands again and dispelled the two clones on either side of him.

"I know all that," he protested to Iruka again. "_Sensei_ taught me."

"The man with Sasuke-san was your _sensei_," Iruka confirmed as he sat back down.

"Yeah." And then, just because Mako didn't like lying anymore than Naruto-_sensei_ did: "He's Raiden."

Iruka became thoughtful as he folded his hands on top of his desk.

"I see."

Mako pinched the inside of his bottom lip between his teeth when he heard Iruka's dubious tone. Everyone got that way when Raiden's name came up, and it wasn't fair because he _wasn't_ anything like what they all thought he was.

"He's a good teacher," Mako said firmly.

Iruka's eyes traveled over Mako's serious face slowly, but Mako didn't move. The best thing to do when an adult was trying to measure you up was not to move.

"And, you wish to become a genin of Konoha?" confirmed Iruka.

Mako nodded proudly.

"Yep."

"Not of Raiden's village?"

Oh, that was a tough one. Mako couldn't really say that Konoha _was_ Raiden's village, could he? _Sensei _had always been careful to keep it a secret. He didn't even know that Mako and the other two kids knew his name now, and Mako wasn't exactly sure what _would_ happen when that conversation came up.

"Hey, Iruka-_sensei_," Mako said suddenly. "Do you know anything about Uzumaki Naruto?"

The surprise that overtook Iruka's features was hopefully enough to distract him. Plus, this way Mako could learn more about his own _sensei_.

"How do you know that name?" the man demanded.

Mako opened his mouth to say that Uchiha had finally spat it out, but then he supposed he might as well take an opportunity to prove that Raiden wasn't a bad guy.

"_Sensei_ told me," he declared firmly. "He said Naruto was a hero."

It was a lie, really. Mako had never heard the name before last night. But he did know what Naruto-_sensei_ carried around in his stomach, and didn't that make him a hero? And he knew that the only way for _sensei_'s name to get on the monument was to die in the line of duty, and that _definitely_ made him a hero.

"He was," Iruka answered in a softer voice. "He gave his life to protect his friends."

"What was he like?" Mako leaned forward eagerly.

Iruka smiled.

"When he was in my classroom—he was probably about your age—he was a very dedicated prankster. A few days before he graduated, everyone woke up to find the Hokage Mountain a complete mess."

**o0O0o**

"Still nothing, Lee-_sensei_."

Rock Lee clapped his young charge on the shoulder firmly, making sure not to knock the boy off the side of the wall protecting Konoha.

"Not to worry, Yoshi-kun!" His smile stretched from one ear to the other across his face. "I'm sure our mission from Hokage-sama will be successful!"

"Wouldn't it be successful anyway if we didn't have anything to report?" asked Morishita Kaoru.

Lee faced all three of his genin-students and smiled reassuringly.

"If we find nothing in our patrol of Konoha's gates, we will surely live in peace for another day," he declared. "And if we discover the enemy encroaching upon our precious home, we will defend it with all the Power of Youth within us!"

"Oh, boy," muttered Mitokado Isamu as he buried his eyes in his palm.

Lee's heart sank ever so slightly. Isamu-kun had not yet embraced the Flames of Youth as fiercely as Lee hoped the boy would. He was a reserved boy, from a well-established family within Konoha, and he was only just starting to open up to his team. Isamu seemed to enjoy sparring with Yoshi-kun, which gave Lee the greatest of joys.

"Lee-_sensei_, is that a new team?" Kaoru asked suddenly.

Lee followed her finger to a pair of men walking casually along the wall of Konoha toward Lee and his team. Lee recognized Uchiha Sasuke immediately, but the other man was new to him. He wasn't dressed in the standard uniform of most Konoha jounin, trading the green jounin vest for a long, red coat while a plain bandanna covered most of his light brown hair.

The man had his hands buried in his pockets as he chatted with Sasuke. Or perhaps it would be more accurate to say the man in the coat talked _at _Sasuke while the dark-haired man endured the socialization. Lee wondered if the man was a civilian friend of Sasuke's, but then the way the man walked confidently on the edge of Konoha's thick walls, unafraid of slipping or of the sudden drop to his side, made Lee decide that this man was shinobi.

"Greetings, Sasuke-san!" Lee shouted as the pair came closer to Lee and his students.

Sasuke looked up and met Lee's eyes, but his companion turned his face toward the forest outside the wall of Konoha and ground his teeth together. Undeterred by this gesture of rudeness, Lee strode up to the unfriendly Uchiha and the other man.

"How do you do, beloved comrades!" he demanded of the pair.

From the corner of his eye, Lee thought he saw Isamu turn his head judiciously away from his _sensei_, but Lee ignored this.

"And who is your companion this glorious day, Sasuke-san?"

Sasuke glowered in no particular direction and looked loathed to actually admit he had a companion. Lee knew that Sasuke preferred his solitude, but he had heard Sakura-san express her concern for Sasuke's well-being many times. As a courtesy to the beloved Cherry Blossom, Lee often attempted to engage Sasuke in conversation.

"He's Raiden," muttered Sasuke.

Of course, Lee had heard of the mysterious ninja who was said to be a bane to Orochimaru's plans. Sasuke had been part of the team sent to ask for Raiden's assistance in the war against Oto, but Lee had not heard that the team had been successful. Lee held out his hand enthusiastically to the newcomer.

"Welcome to Konoha, Raiden-san! I am Rock Lee."

Raiden took Lee's hand with a somewhat bewildered look—it was somewhere between amused and pained—but the man had a firm grip and a good handshake, regardless. Lee liked him already.

"And these are my students." Lee waved his hand to each of the genin in turn. "Morishita Kaoru, Mitokado Isamu, and his Eternal Rival, Hyuuga Hiyoshi!"

"We're _not_ rivals, Lee-_sensei_," Isamu protested immediately.

Lee blanched at the boy's attitude. He disagreed with Lee's style almost more than Neji had ever despised Gai-_sensei_ and his declarations of the Power of Youth! At least Neji had been more silent about his disapproval of such a weird _sensei_.

"But, Isamu-kun!" Lee pleaded with the boy, "everyone needs an Eternal Rival by which to improve themselves. Do you not agree, Raiden-san?"

By his widening eyes, Lee supposed that Raiden was surprised at being addressed thusly. But he recovered quickly and shrugged, slipping his hands into his pockets as he did.

"Sure," replied the man easily. "Even I had a rival."

This piqued Sasuke's interest enough to make the unsocial man study Raiden carefully.

"Who?" he challenged.

"My brother." Raiden's eyes were on the forest as he answered.

"The one that got taken by Orochimaru?"

Lee's eyes flickered between Raiden and Sasuke. He was unsure he should be listening in on such a private conversation, especially since Sasuke's tone sounded more like an interrogator than a curious friend. But Raiden's pose and eyes held no grief or annoyance when he looked at Sasuke and answered:

"I didn't have any others, Sasuke."

Raiden barely gave Lee any time to process either the fact that Raiden apparently wasn't bothered by Sasuke's rude manners or the fact that Raiden had once had a brother who was "taken" by Orochimaru. Raiden transferred his attention to the two boys on Lee's right side.

"So, you two aren't rivals?" he queried with a small smile.

Yoshi was the first to respond to the stranger.

"Isamu can't fight me in the manner of my family," he explained calmly and logically. "He can't help me toward my goal."

"Your goal?" asked Raiden.

Yoshi straightened almost imperceptibly.

"To surpass Neji-_sama_," declared the boy.

"Neji?" Raiden repeated, his eyes wide and curious.

"He is the strongest Hyuuga in the Clan," Yoshi continued eagerly, "and he is not even a member of the main family."

Raiden nodded thoughtfully.

"Neji is my own Eternal Rival, as I am his," Lee explained.

Lee smiled widely. He was sure if Raiden ever met his Eternal Rival, the man would be impressed by Neji's dedication to greatness. Neji never acknowledged Lee as his Eternal Rival, of course. But they were friends, and that was more important to Lee.

"Really?" Raiden tilted his head slightly in a gesture of curiosity. "What's the score?"

"Score?" Lee searched his mind thoroughly and could find no reference to what Raiden might be speaking of.

"Ah . . ." Raiden raised one hand and scratched at the short hair at the back of his head. "Do you guys keep score of how many challenges you each win?"

Lee actually frowned at the man. Even with Lee's dedication to being a _sensei_ to his students, he and Neji always found time to spar, sometimes daily if neither of them was gone on an extended mission. But they never kept score of who won. Lee knew that would push Neji's pride too far, and Neji knew that would ply Lee's Youthful sensibilities too much. The only Rivals Lee could think of who kept that kind of record were his own Gai-_sensei_ in his challenges with Kakashi-_san_.

"Lee-_sensei_," Yoshi called suddenly.

Lee turned to see Yoshi staring out into the forest beyond the wall, the veins on his temples bulging while his hands formed a simple seal in front of his chin.

"I can see something out there," announced Yoshi. "There is a team approaching the gates, but . . . there is something wrong with their _keirakukei_."

"He's right."

Lee looked back to his companions only to find that Raiden had closed his eyes with his head tilted slightly downward. He looked as if he were meditating or at least concentrating very hard. Curious, Lee craned his neck to see if the discoloration around Raiden's eyes was simply a trick of the light.

"I can feel 'em," said the young man.

Sasuke, too, faced Raiden, crossing his arms impatiently.

"So, what's wrong with them?" Sasuke huffed.

Raiden's brow furrowed with his eyes still closed.

"I don't know. They don't—" Raiden cocked his head like a kid. "They don't feel . . . human."

Raiden's eyes suddenly snapped open and stared into the forest, following Yoshi's penetrating gaze. His eyes had changed colors; instead of gray, they were now a bright gold with pupils that cut through the irises at a strange angle. But his strange eyes didn't keep the worried expression from his face.

Lee finally followed both Yoshi's and Raiden's gaze to the forest just in time to see a strange figure leap out of the forest and land on the top of the canopy. It almost looked like a man, but it had gray skin, like ash, and large, reptilian wings attached to its back.

Then, Lee saw a similar creature rise up from trees, followed by three other similar figures. Then the sound of running drew his eyes to the forest floor. In between the gaps of branches, Lee saw a mass of shinobi, all running toward Konoha. Even with the unexpected support of Sasuke and Raiden, the team on the wall was vastly outnumbered.

"Oh, hell," muttered Raiden.

"Sound the alarm!" Lee cried, raising one fist in the air.

The bell-like alarm would at least alert the rest of Konoha to the attack and hopefully raise the chakra shield that surrounded the village in a dome-shaped bubble of protection.

"Too late," Raiden murmured again.

Lee heard a soft _poof_ beside him as Raiden dug into his pocket and flipped his hand by his side suddenly. Before Lee could wonder about the strange gesture, Raiden jumped down from the wall just in time to meet the lead enemy, the one with wings. Sasuke followed close behind, landing on the ground with his _kodachi_ unsheathed. Lee's leg muscles coiled to spring himself away, but then he turned his head to look at his team. They were only twelve years old, and despite the current state of unrest, Lee had taken great care to be sure they were never given any missions that would put them in greater danger than he thought they could handle. He couldn't leave them alone, and yet there was an _army_ of shinobi attacking—

"Go and help," commanded a voice beside him.

Lee turned and saw the figure of Raiden, complete with abnormal eyes, standing on the wall next to Lee. Another identical figure sat cross-legged on the concrete as he raised a hand to his mouth and swallowed something.

"We'll watch over your students," the Raiden clone continued.

"A _bunshin _will not be effective—"

Lee didn't really want to think about what would happen if one of those creatures reached the top of the wall. But his thoughts were cut off when the clone's hand rested on Lee's shoulder. Lee was surprised to find it warm and comforting.

"Give us a little credit." The copy smiled warmly. "Go."

With his heart warmed by the thoughtfulness of a stranger, Lee nodded and leaped into the fray. He landed on top of a gray-skinned opponent and looked around to find himself surrounded by shinobi with a single musical note on their _hitai-ate_.

"Come, you who would invade our beautiful home of Konohagakure!" he yelled at his opponents. "Come and witness the burning Power of Youth!"

**o0O0o**

"Some things never change," muttered Naruto when he heard Lee's posturing at Orochimaru's newest attack force.

He punched one of Orochimaru's new cursed lackeys and sent the body flying nearly half a kilometer backwards. The power that he got from _senjutsu_ always felt infinitely better than the fox's power. Naruto glanced over his shoulder to the wall behind him. His two _kage tensei_ were still guarding Lee's three genin. Or, one was guarding while the other sat perfectly still in the pose Fukasaku had taught him, gathering the natural chakra around him just in case Naruto ran out.

Naruto saw two gray-skinned figures leap onto the wall and dig their nails into the concrete like claws. Like insects, they began to scale the wall, pulling themselves up as if they didn't have the chakra control to simply run up the side of the wall. Naruto gave one almighty leap and landed on the wall directly in their path, halting the two Oto shinobi's movements.

"_My_ wall," Naruto stated childishly.

He snagged two shiruken from his pouch and flicked them at the discolored men he faced. The first one caught its target in the shoulder while the second hit dead on in the young man's forehead. Naruto straightened on the wall as the force of the blows knocked the Oto shinobi off Konoha's wall. Normally, he hated killing, but these things looked so far from human—

Naruto's eyes widened as the body with a shiruken in the middle of his forehead slowly stood up. The beastly figure lifted one and hand and yanked the metal throwing star out of his skin. Naruto jumped down from his perch and watched warily as the split skin on the gray face slowly knitted itself back together. The newly-healed face stared at Naruto and snarled. Naruto's eyes flit to where Lee had taken on three of his own opponents while Sasuke had drawn his _kodachi_ and swung it at his first target, only to have the plunderer from Oto stare back at the dark jounin as he healed before Sasuke's eyes.

Naruto looked back at the two curse seal victims in front of him and frowned. Reinforcements weren't coming fast enough. With barely a thought, he raised his hands in front of him and concentrated on expanding his numbers. He couldn't make an entire army without someone getting suspicious, but even his own students could produce ten _kage bunshin_.

The copies of a bandanna-clad Genkei all set to work immediately. All of them had the same eyes that signified Naruto's increased strength, but fortunately that was the only trace of Uzumaki Naruto that peeked through the disguise of Genkei.

Naruto continued to defend his home, occasionally picking the attackers up physically and hurling them away. He was curious to see how much of their broken bodies could heal and how fast, but he didn't have time to think about it. Suddenly, he was back to back with Sasuke, each fighting his own opponent.

"This ever happened before?" Naruto called over his shoulder as he wrapped his hand around his enemy's fingers and bent them backwards until the other guy was forced to turn his body. He had picked up the move in Suna.

"No," Sasuke answered calmly, flicking the excess blood off his blade. "We've only seen teams trying to infiltrate the rural towns."

Naruto forced the curse seal victim to his knees and then knocked him unconscious with a swift kick to the face. He looked up and breathed a sigh of relief when he saw more Konoha shinobi than misshapen Oto thugs. He thought he caught a glimpse of Hyuuga eyes and flinched automatically. But the man with a Konoha _hitai-ate_ attached to the bandanna that covered his head wasn't paying attention to the two fighters so far away from his range of attack. Naruto clocked another gray monster in the jaw and glanced around, his eyes falling on one particular figure standing on top of the canopy, far removed from the fighting. But that wasn't why Naruto kept staring. This figure didn't have gray skin.

What the hell was Noboru doing here?

"You're friend's back," Sasuke muttered. Apparently, he had seen Noboru watching the fight, too.

"Maybe I should go say hi." Naruto snatched the white and red mask from his belt to slip it over his face.

Suddenly, he felt his strength drain away and knew he had used up his sage chakra. He brought his hands up to dispel one of his _kage tensei_, but he saw a figure with large gray wings that strangely reminded him of a friend who had become a monster beneath a waterfall between two giant statues. Naruto thrust his arm out, intending to turn so that he and Sasuke switched places—his tendency for raw power, even without _senjutsu_, made him a better match for a butt-ugly experiment-gone-wrong than Sasuke's talent for finesse-y jutsu like his lightning spear.

At least that was the plan. Naruto didn't count on the sudden drain of strength when his sage chakra ran out, leaving him vulnerable once again and slightly off balance as he faltered in his movements. The charging Oto ninja leaped at Naruto with his hand curled into claws and caught Naruto's outstretched arm with his open mouth.

"_Aargh_!" yelled Naruto as sharp teeth tore at his flesh.

He shoved his free hand at his attacker's face, managing to stab his fingers into the unnaturally black eyes staring back at him. The gray-skinned figure flinched and finally withdrew its teeth from Naruto's arm only to be stabbed by a _Chidori Eisou_. Naruto lifted his wounded arm in front of his face and studied it intently, just so he wouldn't meet the hot gaze he _knew_ Sasuke was directing at him.

"Great, now I'm gonna have rabies," he muttered.

Naruto brought his hands together once again and dispelled his _kage tensei_. With the sudden surge of strength came the knowledge that his other _kage tensei_ had been killed already. The kids were safe—taken back into Konoha by a chuunin with very round glasses—but the clone had been skewered through the stomach by a spear-like weapon that Naruto didn't recognize. He shuddered at the thought of releasing that clone. But he couldn't do so now; he couldn't afford to feel like he was dying while going to see why Noboru-_teme_ was just watching the battle raging below like a _shogi_ match.

Then, suddenly, a crash resounded from Naruto's back. He recognized the powerful chakra before he ever craned his neck to look up at the wall, where Godaime Hokage stood looking down at her soldiers. He wasn't surprised when the Oto goons turned tail and ran.

"Sheesh, all that work, and they got nothin' outa it," Naruto sighed, exasperated that Noboru had already disappeared. The guy was about as slippery as his master.

"It wasn't for nothing," Sasuke growled. "You don't know how Orochimaru thinks."

Naruto looked at Sasuke finally and blinked at the stone cold face that appeared through the small, rounded eyeholes in his mask. Naruto hooked one thumb under the chin of his mask and pushed it up to his forehead where it wouldn't obstruct his view so much. Sasuke's demeanor resembled nothing so much as a stone statue, so blank that Naruto _knew_ he was livid. Sasuke turned his eyes on Naruto, the _tomoe _still spinning around his pupils.

"Are you going to accuse me of knowing how he thinks?" he demanded accusingly.

Naruto scoffed.

"Sasuke, that guy's so crazy, _nobody _knows how he thinks."

Naruto turned away from Sasuke's puzzled frown after that and surveyed what was left of the battlefield in front of the wall. The _iryou-nin_ were already patching up most of the wounded. Naruto guessed they had arrived along with Tsunade. Then, the Hyuuga Naruto had seen earlier jogged toward him and Sasuke briskly. Self-conscious even in his disguise, Naruto tugged his mask back down. But the Hyuuga didn't have his bloodline activated now that the immediate danger had passed.

The young Hyuuga drew up in front of Sasuke as the dark man slipped his blade back into its sheath. He looked like a teenager, and he certainly didn't have the green vest that signified Sasuke's rank. Naruto pegged the Hyuuga for a chuunin, unless he was a genius with a perverted fashion sense like Neji, who never wore his jounin vest if he could help it.

"Uchiha-san, Tsunade-sama would like to see you in her office in two hours," the chuunin announced. "It's concerning the curse seal."

Naruto saw a scowl cross Sasuke's face briefly and wondered if he hated the reminder of what he once viewed as power.

"I'll come, too," Naruto announced.

Sasuke's head spun to stare at Raiden's mask.

"You weren't invited," Sasuke snapped quickly.

Naruto grinned beneath his mask. He hadn't realized how much he missed getting Sasuke's dander up. But then, he swallowed back his grin and assumed an air of arrogance instead.

"You'll be talking about the snake, and I was hired to kill him," he retorted. "Besides, if you try to stop me, I'll just sneak in the window."

Sasuke's expression went through incredulous, offended, and Naruto even thought he saw a hint of amusement in there before Sasuke huffed and turned away.

"Whatever."

Naruto smiled again under his mask then looked down at his wounded arm and wiggled his fingers experimentally. It should be healed by the end of the day, if Orochimaru hadn't thought of something gross like making his experiments have poisonous saliva.

Naruto's head suddenly jerked up and stared in the direction the remnants of Oto's force had retreated.

"What is it?" Sasuke keyed in on Naruto's sudden discomfort with piercing eyes.

"Nothing." Naruto turned back to the situation at hand quickly.

The raid wasn't for nothing. Noboru had taken his clone. Naruto hadn't seen Noboru do it—and he could have gotten one of the weird Oto shinobi to carry out the task—but Naruto knew he hadn't seen his _kage tensei_ beneath the wall where it should have fallen. That meant Orochimaru's man had confiscated what looked like—for all intents and purposes—a dead body. He wasn't sure, but there was a quick enough fix.

Surreptitiously, Naruto brought his hands together in front of his bowed chin and felt for the combination of blood and chakra that made up his most secret jutsu. Finding a faint signature he recognized, he released it and promptly doubled over, wrapping one arm around his left side as if he would hold his kidney in all on his own.

"What the—" He dimly heard Sasuke call out. "Raiden!"

"I'm fine," he grunted and stood back up.

He forced himself to pull his arm away from his body and glance down. His red coat was clean; the crimson color was only the dye, not Naruto's blood. Naruto looked up and saw Sasuke staring at him with a puzzled expression. He would almost say the bastard looked concerned, but analyzing Sasuke's facial expressions took more concentration than the fading pain would allow.

Naruto hated lying, so what he had told Sakura in the forests of Hi no Kuni was completely true: Dying _sucked._

**o0O0o**_  
_

"Anybody what to tell me what the hell that was?" Tsunade demanded to the mixed audience before her.

Sasuke stood in front of Tsunade's desk while Anko and Kumadori were about three paces to his left. The doctor glanced at Anko worriedly while Sasuke felt the dryness in his mouth gluing his tongue to the back of his teeth. He had known what was off about the attackers as soon as he had seen them. The discolored skin and abnormalities in their physique was something he hadn't seen any trace of for years, but it was familiar enough for him to recognize. He clenched his right hand into a fist to keep it from rubbing at the skin near his left shoulder. There was no need to anymore; that seal was gone.

"I guess _orochi-teme_ really did build an army," muttered a tired voice from the window.

Sasuke's head spun to glare at the newest addition to the Hokage Office. Raiden sat lazily on the large windowsill with one foot drawn up to the sill while his arm rested on his knee. He bore a bandage around his right forearm where one of his opponents had bitten through skin and his mask was still resting at an angle on top of his head, like a crooked face grinning at the sky, but he seemed supremely calm in his situation. Tsunade threw the man an annoyed glance and turned back to her audience.

"Kumadori-_sensei_, was that really Orochimaru's curse seal?" she demanded.

Kumadori Ryoichi was one of the senior _iryou-nin_ at the hospital, performing in more of a researcher capacity than a surgeon or regular healer. He nodded slowly.

"All clues indicate it is, Hokage-sama," he answered. "The base enzyme is the same as Juugo-san always carried in his bloodstream. However, there are several additional elements within the blood work that will take some time to identify."

"Do you have any idea what these elements are used for?" Tsunade frowned.

"With the predominance of glycoproteins and macrophages we found, I would guess they are factors contributing to the surprising recovery time that Uchiha-san described."

Tsunade nodded thoughtfully then turned so that her gaze included both Anko and Sasuke.

"I'm guessing that's a new addition," she grumbled.

Anko shrugged her left shoulder up, despite the lack of any seal on her skin any longer.

"Orochimaru has always been experimenting and improving on his experiments," answered the woman softly. "Even Sasuke's seal was somewhat different than mine."

Sasuke was torn between envying the woman's freedom in speaking of a previous curse on her life and desperately wanting her to shut up in the presence of a _nuke-nin_. But Raiden didn't even look interested in the conversation any more. His face turned to gaze out over Konoha instead of at the conversation about Orochimaru's new army.

"Raiden," Tsunade suddenly called authoritatively.

Raiden sat up straighter suddenly as his face jerked from its pensive tilt to look directly at Tsunade.

"Do you know anything else about the _Ten no Juin_?" she demanded.

Raiden lowered the foot that balanced on the windowsill and brought both his hands down to grip his narrow seat.

"All I know is from Kaito's seal," admitted the young man. "I know the power that comes from it acts like a drug. Feels like being high when you use it. Feels like you're stronger than anyone and all you want to do is make them see your power."

Sasuke's fists tightened abruptly. How could Raiden know what it felt like to use that kind of power? Sasuke hated being associated with Orochimaru in any way now that he was free of the snake. And yet, the way Raiden was talking sounded exactly how Sasuke had felt the first few times he had drawn on the power of Orochimaru's curse.

"Do you speak from personal experience?" Sasuke demanded, curling his lips in an expression of distaste.

Raiden's gray eyes snapped at Sasuke, but then the man looked away just as quickly. Sasuke still caught a glimpse of the guilt that the man buried faster than he was able to turn his head.

"I've never gotten a sick hickey from a snake, if that's what you mean," Raiden muttered.

A _hickey? _Sasuke gave an involuntary shudder at the imagery.

"Enough," Tsunade growled, more at Sasuke than Raiden.

Sasuke scowled and turned away while Raiden looked back over his shoulder out the window again.

"These transformations the Oto shinobi go through—" Tsunade turned to Kumadori-_sensei_ once again. "—can they be reversed? Or perhaps surpressed somehow?"

"An injection of the right elements may slow down the enzymes in their bloodstream." Kumadori rubbed his hands together thoughtfully.

"That still leaves the issue of numbers," Anko interjected. "Even with all the jounin and chuunin called back to Konoha, we can't match Orochimaru's army."

Tsunade nodded solemnly, her eyes falling to the top of her desk.

"How is he finding all these recruits?" she muttered toward the wood.

"I don't think they're recruits."

As one, the room turned to Raiden. The man's gray eyes flitted across his audience before they finally chose Tsuande to address.

"Kaito told me once what Ta no Kuni was like," he began. "There's a lot of farmers. A lot of people are needed to work the rice fields. But between what the _daimyo_ demands and what Orochimaru takes, most of them can't feed large families."

Sasuke listened and matched what Raiden said with his own memories. He hadn't gone out into the countryside much during his time with Orochimaru, and the few missions the snake had dared to send him on where usually ones where he had a good chance of running into someone from Konoha. It was as if Orochimaru enjoyed taunting Sasuke with what he threw away.

"Kaito's parents gave him up to Orochimaru because they thought he'd have a better life as a ninja," Raiden continued.

"They gave him up?" Kumadori repeated, slightly incredulous.

Raiden shrugged and let his eyes fall to his view of Konoha from the window.

"It happens a lot, I guess." His voice was subdued, thoughtful. "Orochimaru promises to feed them well and take care of room and board. For a lot of farmers, that's more than what they can give their own kids."

Sasuke had never really gone hungry. He had always had plenty of funds as a kid to sustain himself, despite growing up mostly alone. So, from an intellectual standpoint, he comprehended how a poor family could be convinced to send their child off to what they thought would be a better situation. But still, even in Ta no Kuni, people _had _to be aware of the kinds of things Orochimaru was capable of. Raiden suddenly looked up and met Sasuke's eyes.

"I'm not praising him," the man was quick to say, "but the snake can be damn convincing when he wants to be."

Sasuke flinched even though he doubted that Raiden was actually referring to Sasuke's own choice to follow Orochimaru for power. He had had no family to turn him over like Raiden was describing. Hell, Kakashi had even tried to _stop_ him from making his choice. Sasuke frowned at the sudden thought. Even if they _had_ given up any rights to their son by giving him to someone like Orochimaru, Kaito's parents could still have a claim on him.

"Are Kaito's parents are still alive?" he demanded of Raiden.

The man shook his head tiredly.

"I don't know," Raiden admitted. "Kaito never wanted to look for them."

Sasuke could understand the kid's perspective. Strangely enough, he could also understand Raiden's. Raiden had lost a brother to Orochimaru. It was likely he cared for anyone else the snake tried to use, such as the boy Kaito. Sasuke didn't like understanding Raiden. He'd much rather hate the man.

"We can't send kids into the battlefield," protested Anko. "Even if the ones they would be fighting are only kids, too."

"I know," Tsunade sighed. "But even with all the jounin we can afford to stay in Konoha, Orochimaru still outnumbers us."

Raiden rose from his perch in the window and approached the side of the large desk.

"I can go to Kumo and ask Raikage if he can spare some of his shinobi to help us."

"Kumo?" Anko repeated, befuddled.

Sasuke had almost forgotten that Raiden had a previous connection with Kumo. What had the man said in the forest? _"I kept an octopus from being eaten by a shark."_

"Are you approving of this, Hokage-sama?" Sasuke growled out.

Tsunade raised her eyebrows back at him. Sasuke suspected she was more surprised that he had voluntarily addressed her with the proper title than anything.

"We do need help," Tsunade admitted grudgingly before she returned her attention to Raiden. "How do you propose to get Raikage to enter a war he has nothing to do with?"

"He thinks he owes me a favor," explained the man. "I've never cashed in on it, but I guarantee he'll at least be willing to listen to me."

Tsunade nodded thoughtfully, and Raiden seemed to take it as encouragement.

"The Kazekage would probably give you aid, too," he blurted.

Tsunade's eyes suddenly sharpened.

"Why do you say that?"

Raiden shrugged off the tension in his shoulders.

"Aren't you guys allies?" he demanded in a lazy tone. "You say whatever you need to Gaara, just let me go to Kumo and ask Raikage for you."

"You seem to know just what is best for our village," interjected a dry, rasping voice.

Sasuke turned his back to the Hokage's desk and faced the withered man who had just entered the room. Shimura Danzo walked forward with deliberate steps, clutching his cane tightly with his left hand. Sasuke had never liked the man, mostly because Danzo made no secret of his preference to see the last Uchiha executed for his treachery. Then, Sasuke noticed that Raiden hadn't moved. It was strange only because the entire dynamic in the room changed when Danzo entered; he always seemed to have that effect. Kumadora-_sensei_ held himself a little straighter as his gaze flitted between Danzo and Tsunade. Anko, meanwhile, eyed Danzo with all the mistrust one would give to a scorpion. Even Tsunade's posture was deliberately casual with her elbows resting on her desk as she leaned slightly forward in a manner meant to convey complete control of the situation.

Raiden, too, had changed in Danzo's presence, but it was different. He hadn't moved from his position at the corner of the large desk, facing the Hokage instead of the newest visitor. But he held himself tensely, like all the muscles in his back and arms were coiled and ready to spring. Danzo apparently took no notice.

"Orochimaru outnumbers us," Tsunade explained calmly, as if that were the point all along. "I'm sending teams to Kumo and Suna to ask for any assistance they would be willing to provide."

"And Raiden is to lead the team venturing to Kumo?" speculated Danzo. "Konoha has not had good relations with Kaminari no Kuni since the days of Sarutobi's second reign."

"Uchiha Sasuke will be leading the team to Kumo," Tsunade corrected him, neglecting any mention of her old _sensei_.

Sasuke lifted his chin defiantly in Danzo's direction and almost smiled smugly. As much as he was determined to dislike Raiden, he preferred that man to the one in front of him. And Raiden was right; Konoha did need more allies. According to Tsunade's wishes, Sasuke would at least be in a position to keep an eye on Raiden himself. Maybe he would even discover some of the man's secrets if Raikage supposedly held him in such high esteem.

At Tsunade's declaration, Raiden finally turned his head and looked at Sasuke. Sasuke caught the look, far from tense and more surprised, from the corner of his eye and turned to regard Raiden's surprise with an arched eyebrow.

"Is that a problem?" he demanded.

Raiden's mouth twitched as if he were trying to repress a smile.

"Not at all, Uchiha-_taichou_."

The words were flat, but Sasuke still thought Raiden was being sarcastic.

"We'll have Kakashi be your third member—" began Tsunade.

"If I may," Danzo interrupted smoothly. "Would not Hatake Kakashi be better put to use inside Konoha?"

Sasuke returned his attention to Danzo at the same time as Raiden jerked as if he had been electrocuted.

"Are you telling me how to use my own shinobi?"

Tsunade's voice was challenging in the stillness of the room. Sasuke knew she was wrestling back control in front of a foreign shinobi, and a _nuke-nin_ at that. But, as always, Danzo showed no signs of the tension or the silent interplay of authority.

"Of course not." He even bowed his head slightly as if deferring to Tsunade. "I would merely suggest that Hatake-san would be best placed here while the research into Orochimaru's newest seal experiment is underway. Surely we can find shinobi such as Uchiha-san who will demonstrate the strength of Konoha to Raikage."

Sasuke hated that Danzo knew what was going on already. He hated even more that the old man saw him only as either a traitor or his bloodline. He knew exactly what Danzo meant by shinobi such as him: those with bloodlines that were exclusive to Konoha. But surely, even Danzo wouldn't argue for sending a Hyuuga to Kumo. That would be too much like flaunting Kumo's failure in their face. Still, even he couldn't disagree with the fact that Kakashi's knowledge would be better used in Konoha if they really wanted to find a way around Orochimaru's new curse seal.

Sasuke heard Raiden grinding his teeth beside him.

"If you're so keen on showing the strength of Konoha," he muttered in a dark voice, "why the hell are we asking for help in the first place?"

Danzo finally transferred his gaze from Tsunade to Raiden, as if he had just noticed the man was standing there.

"You did suggest this plan, did you not, Raiden-san?" queried Danzo curiously.

Raiden's fist tightened until his knuckles turned white while his face seemed turned to stone.

"Yes," he finally answered, the word drug up kicking and screaming from his stomach.

"Do you have any objections to Hatake Kakashi remaining here?"

Raiden was silent, and Sasuke dared to glance to his side to observe the man. For a moment, he could swear that Raiden's eyes flashed a haunting shade of red, like blood. But then Raiden lifted one hand and slipped his mask down over his face again.

"No," he said, and his voice sounded more dead than Sasuke had ever heard.

**o0O0o**

Kaito found Mei sitting on the floor of the girls' room, as it had become known as, staring at the framed photo of _sensei_ and his very young team. Mei was hugging her knees, resting her chin on the tops of them like she did when she got sad. Kaito sighed and sat down next to her.

"He's not mad, Mei-chan," he reassured the girl quietly.

"He didn't even talk to me," Mei pouted.

Kaito rubbed Mei's back comfortingly with one hand and glanced over his shoulder at the closed door to the room. It was true, _sensei_ had been particularly unfriendly that day—which was strange enough, especially for _sensei_—but Kaito had a feeling it had really started last night when _sensei_ had walked in on them discussing the name of Sakura-chan and Uchiha's lost teammate, Uzumaki Naruto.

The _fusuma_ slid open suddenly, and Kaito glanced up to see Mako standing triumphantly at the door.

"Ta-da!" Mako crowed and raised the item in his right hand high above his head.

Kaito frowned at the _hitai-ate_ embedded with Konoha's swirled symbol. Mako didn't seem to notice as he grinned widely at his two friends.

"I passed the test!" he announced. "They made me a genin."

Mei just sunk lower into her state of unhappiness, and Kaito glared at Mako for his insensitivity. The glare seemed to clue Mako in to a severe lack of celebration in his audience. He lowered the _hitai-ate_ and frowned at Mei.

"Hey, what's wrong?"

"_Sensei_'s mad at us," Mei murmured.

"What?" Mako blinked in surprise.

"_Sensei_'s been in a bad mood since last night," Kaito reminded Mako. "Do you think he knows we found out his name?"

Mako frowned thoughtfully as he came to stand next to Kaito and Mei.

"I don't think it's that," he said slowly. "_Sensei_ doesn't get mad at _us_."

"What about that time you tried to practice with his special kunai?" countered Kaito.

Mako crossed his arms in a huff.

"That was _one_ time!"

As far as Kaito—or any of them, really—knew, _sensei_ only had three special kunai he never used. They each had two smaller blades jutting out from the hilt so that the weapon formed a tri-pronged blade. Mako had thought they were extremely cool and tried to see how they compared to regular kunai when he and Kaito had first been learning to hit a target. _Sensei_ had not been pleased.

"Besides," Mako continued. "_Sensei_ glares at us when he gets mad. He hasn't done that at all. I don't think he's mad at us."

"But maybe Kaito was right," suggested Mei in a trembling voice. "Maybe we should have left _sensei_'s name a secret."

"We will," said Mako brightly. "He doesn't need to know we found out his name."

Kaito rolled his eyes at his friend.

"He'll find out. _Sensei _always finds out. How are we supposed to keep it a secret?"

Granted, _sensei_ usually found out because both Kaito and Mei _hated_ keeping secrets from him. Kaito suspected that Mako did, too. After all, _sensei_ just had to look at Mako with very serious and slightly disappointed eyes before the boy started to crack. It was the greatest interrogation technique Kaito had ever seen.

"_Sensei _keeps secrets all the time," Mako answered. "He just never talks about stuff. We can do the same thing."

Mako nodded firmly after his proclamation as if that settled everything. Kaito frowned hesitantly.

"C'mon," Mako pressed. "Don't you like knowing _sensei_'s name?"

Kaito shrugged. He had never had the same drive to know _sensei_'s name as Mako had. It wasn't that important to Kaito. The man had only ever been _sensei_ to him, and that was all he ever needed to be. The knowledge that he had saved Kaito from remaining in Orochimaru's possession and from becoming a monster was enough for Kaito. It didn't matter what his name was in the face of what he had done for Kaito: not just rescuing him but then keeping him in such a close bond that _sensei_ had almost become _otou-san_.

"Fine," huffed Mako suddenly when Kaito didn't answer him. "I'm going to show Naruto-_sensei_ my _hitai-ate_."

Kaito glared at him for saying the name out loud. Sakura-san was still home, as was that Uchiha, and either of them could hear him if he flaunted his secret so loudly. Mako just stuck his tongue out at Kaito and took off through the hallway, racing for _sensei_'s room.

"Idiot," muttered Kaito after his departed comrade.

He meant it, too. Mako could be an idiot sometimes. _Sensei_ said it didn't matter—that being an idiot was a part of learning and growing up. And that being called a fool was far less of an insult and more of a compliment. Kaito still hadn't quite figured that out yet, but he was determined to stay with _sensei_ long enough to know all that the man had to teach. If he didn't want to teach his students his name, Kaito didn't have a problem with not learning it.

Except it was too late for that, and he wasn't sure what to do with the knowledge that the man who saved him and kept him was also a boy that had died for his village and that his teammates still missed.

**o0O0o**

Naruto sat on the ragged _tatami_ mats with his feet flat on the floor in front of him, his knees bent. His fingers were laced together and resting at the back of his neck. The heaviness of his hands seemed to pull his head down until his face was nearly on equal level with his knees, and he was _tired_.

He had liked coming home, if only for a little while. He had even let himself believe that he could be friend with all his old comrades, all the people he cared about, if not as Naruto then as Genkei, who was just as fun if not a little more secretive. It just figured that Danzo would show up and kill that dream with a few simple suggestions that no one else recognized as the threats they were.

"Hey, _sensei_!" Someone called loudly from the hallway. "Guess what! I got it!"

Mako burst into Naruto's borrowed room in Sasuke's house, proudly clutching a Konoha _hitai-ate_ in one hand. Naruto drew in a deep breath before he raised his head and forced himself to smile at his oldest student.

"You got the forehead protector," Naruto noted. "Good job."

Mako's excitement died a very quick death. Naruto supposed his smile hadn't been very convincing.

"_Sensei_?" Mako questioned immediately.

Naruto sighed and rested his head back in his hands.

"Maybe I shoulda left you guys in Ame," he wondered aloud. "You woulda been safe there."

Danzo never knew that Naruto had taken on students, but now Naruto worried he was just presenting the man with three more ways to manipulate his greatest weapon.

"We're safe here," Mako protested immediately. "You love this place, _sensei_, you told us so. We all wanted to come with you. _All _of us. And they're helping Kaito like you said. _Sensei_ . . ."

Naruto really had no argument against any of that. He really did love Konoha, and Tsunade and Sakura-chan really were helping Kaito with Orochimaru's seal. Slowly, he pushed himself to his feet.

"I have to go on a mission," he explained.

Naruto dragged his feet around the rolled-up futon and picked up the small pack that had already been packed with essentials. He had been excited to go to Kumo; he was even considering asking Tsunade if he could take Mako along. The boy had never seen Kuminari no Kuni. Naruto glanced at the boy standing in his doorway and remembered Danzo's non-specific threat.

"Mako," he said suddenly, "if anything happens, you go to Sakura and tell her everything. _Everything_, you got it?"

"_Sensei_, why?"

"You got it?" Naruto repeated insistently.

Mako's eyes dropped.

"I got it."

Naruto's chest twinged at forcing all the proud accomplishment out of Mako so quickly. He knelt down in front of the boy and slowly took the _hitai-ate_ from him.

"You're a ninja of Konoha now." Naruto raised the metal band and placed it over Mako's brow, stretching the cloth ends around his head. "That means you have to protect them with all your might."

"Yes, _sensei_," answered Mako in a solemn tone the boy _never_ used.

Naruto finished tying the cloth at the back of Mako's head and rested his hands on the boy's shoulders. He nodded approvingly as he stood back up. A part of him truly doubted that anything would go wrong on the mission. All he had to do was call in Raikage's debt and apply it to Konoha instead of himself. Danzo might not like it, but Naruto's current employer was Senju Tsunade, Godaime Hokage. Not the damn warhawk.

Naruto shrugged the pack onto his shoulder and slipped past Mako, through the hall, and into the main living area where Sasuke waited with his jounin vest and his katana slung across his back while Sakura stood in the kitchen. Sasuke gave him a cursory glance once he entered then turned his eyes back to the pack he was tying up himself.

"Ready?" he demanded.

"Sure," replied Naruto with an uncaring shrug.

Sasuke led the way to the door, all professionalism. A soft yet urgent padding of small feet made Naruto glance over his shoulder one more time. Mako rushed into the room with a panicked Mei and a worried Kaito following close behind. Naruto wondered how much the boy had told the other two.

"_Sensei_." Mako frowned at Naruto through his panting. "If you die, I'll . . . I . . ."

Naruto could see the possiblities flit through Mako's mind as his eyes alternatively widened and then narrowed at his teacher. Finally, Mako jabbed an accusing finger at Naruto.

"If you die, I'll kick your ass," he declared.

Naruto smiled.

"Thanks, _kozou_." He grinned for a moment then became deadly serious again. "Remember what I told you, Mako."

Mako's hand fell back to his side as he nodded. Naruto turned back to the door and caught Kaito's eye on his way.

"Make sure he knows you can still kick his ass, Kaito," instructed Naruto.

Lee was right about one thing: a rival was the best way to measure your own growth. Naruto faced his own one-time rival and suppressed the urge to roll his eyes at Sasuke's obviously impatient look. Instead, he only stomped out the door first.

"We're going, we're going, Uchiha," he reassured his friend. "So, have you ever been to Kumo?"

Sasuke didn't reply as they left the house, but Naruto stopped short on the _engawa_. What else could he do when faced with Tsunade leading two shinobi he had last seen beside Danzo when he was sixteen and in chains and promising to die for his village?

"Uchiha," Tsunade addressed Sasuke readily. "These will be your teammates: Yamanaka Fuu and Aburame Torune."

Naruto saw Sasuke roll his eyes, but there was no tension or signs of betrayal from either Sasuke or Tsunade. They didn't know that half the team the Hokage was sending out for allies would report back to someone else besides Tsunade. Naruto set his jaw firmly and slipped Raiden's mask over his head, the string catching on the bandanna he had tied over his hair. Once again, he walked forward, unrecognizable. He passed by Danzo's two lackeys without a word and forced himself not to glance back at the ones he was leaving behind.

**o0O0o**

Noboru entered the dark chamber and executed a deep bow at the waist quickly before straightening again. He refused to kow-tow or bend his knee at the man in charge. Noboru had never been as loyal as some of the pets Orochimaru-sama kept.

"The initial attack on the walls of Konoha was a failure," Noboru announced.

"Exactly as you anticipated, Noboru-kun," hissed the slippery voice of Orochimaru.

"Not exactly," answered Noboru. "The Godaime Hokage herself came out to the wall, and I doubt she would be willing to stand idly by while her citizens died."

Noboru had signaled for retreat as soon as the Hokage had made an appearance. He knew the force that Orochimaru had sent with him would not last long against either the Godaime's strength or her summons. But that was not the most interesting part of the battle in Noboru's mind.

"I did not account for Raiden's presence. He alone destroyed more troops than any of the Konoha shinobi."

Orochimaru's eyes glistened with interest for only a moment before Noboru saw a sly smile cross his master's face.

"Indeed. A pity you could not convince him to join with us."

"Raiden was never going to work for Oto," countered Noboru. "I doubt he could be convinced by _anything _we could have offered him."

Orochimaru stood and crossed the floor with deliberate slowness.

"And how will you discover the man's secrets now, Noboru-kun?"

"An autopsy would be just as effect in revealing any physiological points of interest."

Noboru was half-lying. He would much prefer to see the man in action, after fighting with him only twice. Noboru had been the first to arrive at the scene of destruction the man had left behind in Asahi. Two of the bodies that littered the street had still breathed, two of the Oto shinobi that had been sent to retrieve Orochimaru's next vessel. Noboru had learned from them of the masked ninja who had decimated everything with a red energy as fiery as Hell and as crimson as blood. Once Noboru himself caught up with the intruder, he witnessed the impossible sight of a man who could not be killed. His work with Orochimaru's drugs and biological engineering was nothing compared to what this man, this god of thunder, was capable of.

"You may get your chance, Noboru-kun," Orochimaru soothed while Noboru stared mockingly at the snake-like man.

He had almost had a chance when one of his own improved shinobi had managed to capture Raiden's apparently dead body. But the body had disappeared shortly after Noboru sounded the retreat. Vanished like a summons called back to its home.

"If Raiden continues to stand with Konoha," continued Orochimaru, "he will fall with Konoha."

Noboru nodded absently at Orochimaru's confidence. He didn't much care one way or the other if Konoha fell.

"As long as you remember our bargain."

Orochimaru met Noboru's studious gaze directly, and a thin smile stretched his lips.

"How could I forget the one experiment you privilege me to watch?"

Noboru ignored the tease. It was the only way he retained his power: insisting on performing his experiments alone. Noboru's skill and knowledge of biological chemistry allowed Orochimaru to take an enzyme that had previous been unstable and massproduce it among young humans. And if no one else had his knowledge, Orochimaru could not afford to get rid of him. This one experiment—and anything Noboru subsequently discovered about Raiden—was subject to Orochimaru's study. But, it was a fair price to pay to see if Raiden could live through his own dissection.

* * *

A/N: This chapter is coming out—well, I don't know if it's early or late considering I was aiming for next Saturday. It's probably late, anyway. I want my summer back. School is going to kick my butt this year.

A few tasty tidbits: Kumadori Ryoichi is actually a canon character, believe it or not. He is a researcher who worked on the autopsy of one of Pein's bodies with Shizune in the manga. Lee's genin, however, are OCs, but I tried to connect them to the canon!Naruto universe in subtle ways. For example, Yoshi being Hyuuga (this keeping the chain of _sensei_ who are connected to their teammates by their students), and Isamu really is connected to a canon Konoha family. See if you can figure which one, hee hee.

In the process of writing _this _chapter, I also realized a couple things I have been doing wrong. First, a reviewer questioned my use of Naruto's nickname for Mako, _kouzu_. I had to look it up again, and she was right. It's supposed to be _kozou_, which means boy or "kid."

Also, Sasuke's sword—since he really should have a sword—was a _katana_. I believe this is what he has in the manga when Naruto: Shippuden initially starts, but I was picturing a _kodachi_, which is more traditionally associated with assassins and ninja because of its shorter length.

Terms I don't think I've defined yet are below as always. Until October, then . . .

Sincerely,

Fia

_kage tensei_ – If I am using my (extremely limited) Japanese terminology correctly, this translates to "Shadow Reincarnation." This is, indeed, Naruto's special technique that he used in the prologue, as some readers already guessed. At the risk of annoying you all, I'm not going to explain how it works yet. Naruto will explain it himself later.

_keirakukei – _Chakra Pathway Network, pretty much the stream of chakra within a person's body. This is only made visible by the Hyuuga's Byagakun.

_senjutsu_ – Sage Techniques. This is what Naruto learns from Fukasaku on Mount Myouboku. By keeping perfectly still, Naruto can draw the natural energy around him into himself to make him stronger and somewhat invulnerable. His eyes also change their form when he's in that state, but since no one of Naruto's generation ever saw Naruto or Jiraiya in sage mode, they don't know what it means.


	9. In Which He Sees

Chapter 8: In Which He Sees

_Titles are but nicknames, and every nickname is a title._

~ Thomas Paine

**o0O0o**

By the day after the two men had left for Kumo, Sakura was already wishing they were back. With both Genkei and Sasuke gone, the house was surprisingly quiet. Even Mako and Kaito had been subdued lately, taking to spending hours in either their room or the one Genkei occupied. Sakura wasn't sure what they did in there; Genkei had very little possessions to keep even a grown man from boredom, much less a couple of kids.

Sakura washed the breakfast dishes in the sink silently while Kaito and Mei sat on the _tatami_ in the living room, talking quietly to each other. Mako had left already for the Academy, with a determination to be a splendid ninja that reminded Sakura a bit of Lee as a genin. Or maybe Naruto. A knock on the door interrupted Sakura's train of thought. Shaking the water off her hands, she left the two kids playing quietly on the floor as she went to answer the door. Sakura slid the wooden door open and smelled cigarette smoke a moment before she saw the man standing on the _engawa_.

"Shikamaru? What can I do for you?"

Shikamaru looked pointedly past Sakura at the girl sitting on Sasuke's floor. Sakura frowned at his paranoia, but she stepped outside beside him on the wooden porch. Shikamaru started walking down the path that led from the house back to the gate leading to the rest of Konoha. Sakura followed, knowing the genius would talk when he was good and ready to.

"I need some information," Shikamaru finally explained. "About Raiden."

"Okay," Sakura replied hesitantly.

She wasn't sure how much she could help Shikamaru. Raiden had only been living in the Uchiha Complex for a few days, and Sakura spent most of her time in the hospital, usually with Kaito.

"I need you to see if you can get his students to talk about him."

Sakura stopped walking and frowned at Shikamaru.

"Why?" she demanded.

Shikamaru stared back at the Uchiha house and sucked at the cigarette between his lips.

"Either he's not who he says he is, or he's _exactly_ who he says he is," he muttered dangerously.

"What are you talking about?"

Shikamaru's questioning was beginning to worry Sakura. What if Raiden was someone Konoha had dealt with in the past? Did Shikamaru know him? The man had said that he had never been an enemy of Konoha, but he still seemed to know some things about the village and its strengths. Shikamaru shifted his gaze from the house back to Sakura.

"Do you remember the immortals that Akatsuki had recruited?" he demanded. "Do you remember how Kakuzu had five different hearts you had to kill before he actually died?"

Sakura nodded wordlessly. She remembered everything about the different ways Akatsuki had hurt Konoha, especially those she considered her friends. Shikamaru plucked the cigarette from his mouth and looked at Sakura with sharp, dark eyes racing.

"Sakura, from a medical perspective, could a _bunshin_ be used to take the place of those hearts?"

"A _bunshin_ is just empty chakra, like the _henge_," Sakura replied automatically. "There's no way it can die."

"Not even a _kage bunshin_?" Shikamaru pressed.

"What?" Sakura frowned at him, confused. "No."

_Kage bunshin_ were just clones made of chakra. They were solid, more durable, than regular clones, but they couldn't extend the castor's life or take the place of a death. What was Shikamaru trying to say? That there was a way for a shadow clone to fulfill the same purpose that Kakuzu's hearts did?

"Shikamaru, what are you—"

"I'm still thinking," he interrupted her with a wave of his hand. "Try to get some more information out of the kids."

Shikamaru shoved the cigarette back into his mouth and slouched his way back down the path into Konoha proper. Sakura frowned after him and wondered what path his genius mind was taking now. Surely, if he thought Raiden was a danger to the village, he would report it right away instead of just looking for information. Then again, Shikamaru never seemed to take a step forward unless he had already planned five steps in advance.

Sakura shook her head and turned to walk back to the house. If Shikamaru thought something one of the kids might say would be helpful to him, Sakura could at least try to encourage them to open up to her.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke woke in the chill of dawn and sat up immediately. He had always been able to wake swiftly, especially in an unfamiliar environment. Sitting up quickly, Sasuke saw the Yamanaka and Aburame assigned as his teammates already awake and moving about the camp. Sasuke stood while the other two packed away the sleeping rolls.

"Where's Raiden?" Sasuke demanded.

The Yamanaka shrugged and kept working. Sasuke rolled his eyes in a silent scoff. The two temporary teammates were antisocial to the point where _Sasuke_ was beginning to think it ridiculous, and that took some exorbitant amount of skill. Shrugging the stiffness that came from sleeping on the ground from his shoulders, Sasuke started to walk deeper into the forest, away from the campsite. He was just beginning to wonder how he was supposed to find the man when he heard someone call.

"Up here, _teme_."

Sasuke looked up toward the voice and saw Raiden perched in a tree. Contrary to the first time Sasuke had traveled with Raiden, this trip seemed to aggravate Raiden's tension. But he sat on the branch of his tree with his legs stretched out on the branch and crossed at the ankles. His back rested against the trunk, and his hands were folded behind his head. His mask still covered his face as he gaze at the thin canopy above him. Sasuke leaped into the tree and stood at Raiden's feet, nearly blocking his view.

"The others will be ready to go in a minute," Sasuke announced.

"Or we could just go on without them," suggested the other man in a sarcastic tone.

Sasuke frowned at Raiden's obvious displeasure with his teammates.

"You said you were never against Konoha," he noted.

Raiden's mask shifted from the leaves of the tree to Sasuke suddenly.

"I wasn't," Raiden retorted sharply.

Sasuke had to admit that Raiden's mask did not seem to accomplish all it was supposed to. Among shinobi, the general purpose of masks was to hide one's identity, especially among the upper levels like ANBU and hunter nin. But they also helped conceal little things like facial expressions and hints to emotions. But as strange as it was staring at a face that didn't change, Sasuke could still hear the incredulous offense in Raiden's tone at the mention of being Konoha's enemy.

"So why do you hate Danzo?"

In the quiet chill of dawn, Sasuke could hear Raiden breathing heavily and deliberately, calming himself down before he answered. Finally, Raiden's mask turned away, as if he couldn't meet Sasuke's eyes any longer.

"Do I need a reason to hate him?" muttered the man bitterly.

Sasuke thought of Itachi, who had turned his childhood into a tunnel of vengeance and blood, and of Orochimaru, who had turned his youth into a realm of paranoia and power.

"Yes," he answered.

Raiden kept his head turned away and his hands behind his head. Sasuke wondered if his "balancing" could also give him the power to see where he wasn't looking, like the Hyuuga's Byagakun.

"He threatened someone . . . precious to me."

A slight frown creased the center of Sasuke's forehead beneath his _hitai-ate_.

"Your students?" They were the only ones Raiden had ever suggested that he was afraid of losing.

But Raiden just shook his head tiredly.

"Danzo probably knows as much about my kids as you do. I kinda picked them up along the way."

"Along the way?" Sasuke repeated.

Raiden slipped one hand from behind his head and began to rub at his neck.

"Mako tried to pick my pocket in Tanzuko Gai," he began. "He just kept tagging along after that, begging me to train him. I took him to Ame. We found Mai in the rain. Her parents had been killed in the civil war after Pein's death."

"After you killed him," Sasuke clarified.

Raiden's blank mask tilted up toward Sasuke silent, then the man shrugged.

"My mess, my clean up," he replied shortly. "We had to take her. She didn't even remember her parents' name. We called her Aki because that was when we found her."

Raiden leaned forward from his lazy perch and stretched his hands in front of him. Sasuke wasn't sure if the gesture was simply a human reaction or a distraction. He chose to stay on task.

"And you found Kaito when you went to kill Orochimaru," Sasuke accused. "It seems you have no more luck cutting off the snake's head than anyone else."

Sasuke wouldn't admit to feeling a tad bit smug at being able to throw Raiden's words back in his face. But he did revel in the way Raiden's shoulders tensed.

"Yeah," the man finally muttered. "Mission failed."

"Mission?"

Raiden's mask tilted up to meet Sasuke's confused gaze. Then, Raiden shrugged carelessly and leaned back against the trunk of the tree.

"Asahi was a mission," he answered. "I was supposed to find Orochimaru's hideout and kill him. I found Kaito instead."

As much as Sasuke wanted to rub the failure in Raiden's face, the fact that he had abandoned the mission in favor of a boy who had been trying to run away almost made him too much of a decent person.

"Who was the mission from?" asked Sasuke, expecting an answer involving Kumo or Ame, someplace that Raiden had obvious ties to.

"The only one I ever take 'em from," replied Raiden in a deadened voice.

Sasuke scoffed. It was an obviously evasive answer. And yet, if Raiden was telling the truth, he only had one employer despite his status as _nuke-nin_.

"Shinobi are supposed to be tools, _ne_?" Raiden suddenly demanded. "Weapons in the hands of their village: efficient, unquestioning . . . uncomplicated."

The last word was practically spat out. Raiden slowly pushed himself to his feet on the branch and raised his head so the blank eyeholes bore directly into Sasuke.

"That's how Danzo sees his shinobi. That's not how it should be."

"So, you hate him because of his beliefs?" Sasuke tried to confirm. Raiden's propensity for speaking as vaguely as possible was growing annoying.

"I hate him because I can't convince him," snapped Raiden. "I hate him because I can't fight him. And I hate him because he threatened someone precious to me and I can't do a _damn_ thing about it."

"Uchiha-san," called a steady voice from the forest floor.

Sasuke looked down to see the Yamanaka staring passively back up at him. Sasuke didn't like the Yamanaka. His stares reminded him of that idiot Sai, only much more nondescript.

"We are ready to continue," Fuu announced.

Sasuke nodded, and Fuu turned back to the camp, where the dead fire was covered with dew. Turning back, Sasuke saw Raiden watching the two Konoha shinobi in the camp passively, frozen in a state of tension that had been commonplace since he had agreed to take the mission.

"Why do you hate them?" asked Sasuke, hoping Raiden was still feeling talkative.

Raiden's mask looked back at Sasuke.

"Did ya know Aburame has certain species of bugs that can poison you from the inside out?" he demanded then shivered dramatically in horror.

Raiden jumped off the branch and landed on the ground softly. He trotted to the camp to retrieve his pack without looking back at Sasuke, still standing on the tree branch and wondering how Raiden knew so much about a clan that was specific to Konoha.

**o0O0o**

Kakashi leaned his back against the whitewashed wall of the hospital room and relaxed all his muscles, making sure to present a non-threatening figure to the already-tense boy on the bed.

"Does this hurt, Kaito-kun?" Sakura demanded as she pressed her green chakra against the seal and barrier on the boy's shoulder.

Kakashi saw the boy sink his teeth into his lower lip, but he didn't flinch.

"No," blurted Kaito quickly.

Kakashi recognized the telltale signs of a boy refusing to show weakness and liked Kaito for it. He had seen that look far too many times to take it quite at face value. Sakura stepped back from the bed where Kaito sat with his shirt off and came around to stand in front of Kaito instead.

"You have to let me know if it hurts, even a little, so we can adjust the injections," she pressed.

Kakashi saw Kaito's eyes fall guiltily to the pristine sheets.

"It doesn't huirt that much," the boy amended reluctantly.

Sakura hummed thoughtfully and used the tips of her fingers to brush the inked seal that surrounded the dark mark on Kaito's shoulder. Tsunade had requested Kakashi's presence mostly to determine how the seal affected Kaito, especially when Sakura began her attempts to separate the dark chakra that the seal provided and slowly remove it from Kaito's system. But from what Kakashi had seen thus far, Kaito hated the seal

Sakura looked up at the man leaning against the wall.

"Kakashi-_sensei_, would you come look?" she asked politely.

Kakashi pushed himself from his lazy position, not bothering to correct Sakura on her form of address. She still sometimes slipped and called him _sensei_ instead of _senpai_. Kakashi liked to think it balanced out his only other remaining student not speaking to him at all unless necessary. The boy on the hospital bed tensed as Kakashi came to stand behind him and gazed down at the dark mark exposed.

The mark itself looked very similar to the one he had seen on Sasuke; three dark _tomoe_ like ink on his skin. The design around it even looked somewhat like the _Fuuja Houin_, but this seal was more . . . _aggressive_ was the only word Kakashi could think of. It curled around the curse seal like a spool of tangled wire.

"Your _sensei_ made this?" Kakashi asked the boy.

Kaito looked up suddenly at Kakashi's curious face. He shrugged carelessly, shifting the curse seal and the barrier around it.

"Yeah," Kaito confirmed.

"Kakashi-_sensei_?" Sakura called wonderingly.

Kakashi looked up at his former student.

"This barrier is even more advanced than the _Fuuja Houin_, but the symbols read like they would affect the bloodstream more than his chakra system."

"He had to," protested Kaito, jerking away from Kakashi's perusal.

The boy glared up at Kakashi defiantly.

"He had to tie his seal into my blood just like _orochi-teme_ did with his."

"What do you mean," Sakura pressed, "Orochimaru tied his seal into your blood?"

Kakashi recognized Kaito's sliding of his tongue between his teeth as a sign of nervousness and waited patiently for the boy to decide on his answer.

"_Sensei_ said the seal reacts to something in my blood," Kaito explained slowly. "When I get angry or when I'm fighting, the seal gets stronger, and I get weaker."

"It reacts to adrenaline," Sakura translated.

Kakashi traced the barrier's ring with his eye again, recognizing the subtle signs that would work to suppress the hormone in Kaito's bloodstream. The barrier didn't just act as a deterrent to the foreign chakra; it was meant to act the same way Orochimaru's curse seal did. It fought to counteract the curse seal within Kaito's own blood.

"We'll have to remove the barrier seal in order to access the _Ten no Juin_."

"You can't!" Kaito immediately protested Sakura's evaluation. "_Sensei _made this to keep the curse under control."

"Kaito, we can't remove the curse seal until we remove the barrier," Sakura explained. "We need to talk to your _sensei._"

Kaito looked murderously rebellious for a moment but then slowly lowered his head with a nod.

"This seal is impressive work," Kakashi thought to compliment. From what he knew, Kaito was fiercely loyal to Raiden. "How did your _sensei_ know it?"

With his head still facing the floor, Kaito shrugged carelessly. Sakura's eyes lit with sudden curiosity as she cast Kakashi a glance over top of the boy's lowered head.

"Was it because of his brother?" she asked.

"Probably. Yeah," Kaito admitted quietly.

"Probably?" Kakashi repeated.

_ "Sensei_ doesn't talk much about his family." Kaito's voice dropped almost to a whisper.

"Does he have more family than just a brother, Kaito-kun?" Sakura laid one hand gently on the boy's arm. "I mean, besides you. You're obviously his family."

Kaito raised his head at the admission, but his expression wasn't as pleased as Kakashi had expected it to be at the mention of his _sensei_'s affections.

"Yeah," Kaito addressed Sakura, "but he misses his other family a lot. We can tell."

"Who's his other family?" Kakashi asked, making sure to smile widely beneath his mask.

Kaito looked up at Kakashi with wide, sharp eyes, then looked away just as quickly.

"He has a _sensei_," the boy announced. "And all the stories he tells Mei-chan have a princess in them. I think there's a reason for that."

"You think there's someone who is precious to him?" asked Sakura.

Kaito's shoulders slumped.

_ "Sensei _has a lot of people who are precious to him."

"Where are they now?"

"Back home." Kaito jerked his head in some vague direction, toward the sole window in the room. "_His_ home."

"Did something happen in his home?" Sakura's questions were getting a little more imperative now. "Something he couldn't fix?"

Kakashi wondered why Sakura was so determined for information on Raiden, or why she was seeking it from Kaito for that matter. It was perfectly rational for Sakura to distrust Raiden. But she usually spoke very well of the kids he kept. Kakashi had even seen the man's devotion to the three children on that first night Raiden had appeared in Konoha. He tucked them into bed in a hospital room and insisted on staying with them.

Kaito looked up at Sakura and gave her a small smile, as if he were trying to remember how to use the muscles just the right way.

_ "Sensei_ can fix anything," he stated confidently. "He just _makes _people listen to him."

**o0O0o**

Sasuke approached the gate to Kumogakure confidently with Yamanaka and Aburame behind him. Raiden slumped in the rear of the party, still wearing his mask. The Kumo man that sat beside the ornate wooden doors had dark skin, almost like a permanent tan. The chair he sat in tipped precariously on the back two legs as the guard rested his booted feet on the desk in front of him and looked up at the Konoha team with a lazy indifference.

"Who're you?" he mumbled, the same way Shikamaru did when someone woke him from a nap.

"I am Uchiha Sasuke, leading my team from Konoha." Sasuke designated himself as spokesman simply because Yamanaka and Aburame didn't seem inclined to speak and Raiden had been testy all day. "We're here to see Raikage-sama."

"Does he know you're coming?" The man showed no intentions of moving from his lazy position.

"No," Sasuke was forced to admit.

Tsunade hadn't thought it necessary to send a missive ahead of the team to Kumo, since Konoha and Kumo had a prettty much neutral relationship with each other. One that consisted of "you-stay-out-of-my-way-and-I-stay-out-of-yours." Sasuke was sure he wouldn't even be this close to Kumo if Raiden hadn't suggested it to Tsunade.

The dark-skinned guard hummed thoughtfully.

"Technically, you're supposed to be announced if you don't have an appointment," he said more to the air around him than to Sasuke.

Sasuke ground his teeth together in frustration and was about to say something about the lack of expedience in Kumo when a young man suddenly joined the guard. The newcomer had the same dark skin as the other Kumo nin, but his air suggested a higher rank—not to mention the _jian _strapped to his back, like Sasuke wore his _kodachi_. He shifted a lollipop around in his mouth and used one hand to knock the guard's feet off the desk.

"Ren," sighed the newcomer. "Are you slacking off on duty again or are you just picking on people?"

"Ah, come on, _senpai_," whined Ren-the-guard. "They don't have an appointment."

"_Ne_, Omoi," Raiden called from the back of the group. "Did Kirabi give you the day off?"

The _senpai's_ face snapped up to the Konoha team suddenly as Sasuke heard his teeth crunch down on the candy inside his cheek.

"Who's that?" he demanded.

Sasuke turned his head slightly to watch Raiden emerge from his position and stand next to the Uchiha. The Kumo-nin with the straight sword, Omoi, grinned wildly.

"Raiden-_sama_," he greeted happily. "Are you here to see Bee-_sensei_?"

"Ah, not this time." Raiden rubbed the back of his head through his bandanna and somehow managed to sound sheepish even through a blank mask.

Omoi slapped Ren again.

"Hey, go get Karui," he commanded. "Tell her Raiden-_sama_ is here."

Ren gaped at the masked ninja for a solid moment.

"You're Raiden-_sama_?"

"Course he is."

Omoi smiled proudly, as if he had something to do with Raiden's existence. Raiden just took the apparent hero worship in stride.

"Actually, Omoi—" Raiden turned his focus back to the more pensive man. "We need to see Raikage."

Omoi studied the masked man thoughtfully, rolling the lollipop in his mouth against the inside of his cheek. Sasuke resisted the urge to interject himself into the conversation, reminding both Raiden and the Kumo nin that they were on a mission—a mission in the middle of a war, no less. But then, Omoi nodded and turned to Ren.

"You go find Karui and Kirabi-_sensei_ and tell them Raiden-sama is here," he ordered.

"_Hai_." Ren saluted obediently and sped off over the rough mountains that made up much of Kaminari no Kuni's landscape.

"Quit with the -_sama_ already," Raiden muttered as he shoved his hands in his pockets.

Omoi turned back to him with a friendly smile.

"You saved the brother of Raikage, you're nearly as strong as Kirabi-_sensei_," he accused good-naturedly. "Gimme one good reason why we should quit."

"I'm too young to be called -_sama_," returned Raiden.

Omoi laughed at this, a short barking laugh from around his lollipop. Sasuke stopped resisting his urges and stepped forward to draw attention to himself.

"We _are_ on a bit of a time crunch," he announced coldly.

"You are?" Omoi looked surprised.

"This is important, Omoi," Raiden agreed with Sasuke in a far more serious voice. "We need to see Raikage."

Omoi frowned at Raiden's mask then nodded.

"All right. We'll go there first."

Omoi waved a young boy over to the desk at the gate. Sasuke guessed he was no more than a genin, but he could've been a chuunin. At any rate, he was entrusted with the comings and goings of Kumo while Omoi led Raiden and the team from Konoha into the city.

They passed by most of the common citizens quickly, without any fuss. Although Sasuke noticed that most of the citizens stared at the team from Konoha as if they had never seen humans before. For a moment, Sasuke allowed himself to wonder if the people were staring at them, having noticed their origins of Konoha, or at the man in front of him, shocked that what appeared to be a national hero was walking in their midst. The sheer _attention_ that Raiden got in the village irked Sasuke somehow. It was as if Raiden was no longer a mere human when he wore his mask. To Sasuke, who had seen the man angry, tired, and strangely amused, it was the foulest kind of lie.

The Tower was in the center of the village, unlike Konoha's Hokage Tower, backed against the mountain for protection. Omoi led them up a series of wide stairs and into a wide, open room with windows on all sides overlooking the village below. In the center of the room stood a man with skin as dark as Omoi's and hair just as white. He was larger than anyone Sasuke had seen in Konoha, except perhaps the Akimichi patriarch. But where Chouza was rotund, this man was muscular. His official robes looked more like a street fighter's outfit, the _gi_ hanging open to reveal his steely torso. The man turned to the sudden visitors and peered at them intently.

"Omoi, who is this?" the Raikage demanded.

"Raiden-_sama_ said he needed to talk with you, Raikage-_sama_." Omoi held up one hand to the visitors.

Raikage squinted his eyes at the masked shinobi, as if that would enable him to see the man better. Raiden merely lifted one hand and used two fingers to salute the leader of Kumo's shinobi forces.

"Yo."

"Raiden!" the large man sudden exclaimed. "Have you finally decided to consider my offer?"

"Sorry, I'm here with them." Raiden jerked one thumb towards Sasuke.

Raikage's eyes flickered over the Konoha team before settling on Sasuke.

"You are Uchiha Sasuke," he grumbled in a low voice, his attitude quickly changing from excited to suspicious. "Kumo has no dealings with Konoha."

"Just listen to them, Raikage," Raiden pleaded. He crossed his arms over his chest and huffed at the larger man. "You owe me, remember?"

Raikage studied the white and red mask for a moment then turned his back on the five people standing on ceremony. The large man settled himself down in a large chair behind a desk that looked as if it got little use. He leaned back in his chair and thumped the heel of one of his large boots on top of the desk, crossing his legs at the ankles.

"So," he demanded of Sasuke, "start talking."

Sasuke almost rolled his eyes as he wondered who had elected him spokesperson for this mission. Wasn't Raiden the one who had ties with Kumo?

"Raikage-_sama_, I'm sure you've heard of Orochimaru's increased power within Ta no Kumi."

**o0O0o**

Mei studied her scratchings in the dirt and used her foot to erase them quickly. No one paid much attention to a girl writing in the street with a long stick, but she didn't mind. Everyone around her seemed very busy, rushing in and out of stores, pulling their young ones along with them. And they never stopped to chat with the people they passed by. It was strange to her. _Sensei—_Naruto-_sensei _would talk to nearly everyone he met when he went for a walk, no matter how many of the three kids he had tagging along behind him.

Mei glanced at the large building she stood next to again. Kaito was still somewhere on one of the higher floors with Sakura-_hime_. Mei had wanted to keep him company—she was the only one who could since Mako had to go be a Konoha ninja—but Sakura-_hime_ had explained that it was probably better for her to wait. Being bored, Mei ventured outside the large building with smells that tickled her nose and made her eyes water. She took her stick again and starting tracing the _hiragana _she had been practicing: _uzu-ma— _

Mei felt a pair of eyes on her and looked up quickly as she used her stick to wipe away her writing. _Sensei's _name _was _a secret, after all. A little girl with dark, dark hair and bright red eyes stared at Mei from beside the hospital, a little ways away from Mei. Mei smiled.

"Hello," she greeted happily enough.

She didn't often see children who were younger than her. Most of her time was spent with Kaito and Mako, as it had been ever since _sensei_ first found her in the rain. The young girl just stared at Mei with wide eyes. Mei didn't have much experience in guess ages, but the girl seemed younger than she had been when she had lost her parents. Mei tried to smile encouragingly.

"Are you lost?" she inquired. "Who do you belong to?"

She wondered if the little girl was here with a parent. Or maybe someone she knew had been hurt. Mei hoped that wasn't true. Suddenly, the girl's eyes lit up as they gazed past Mei.

"Shika-_ji-san_." The little girl smiled broadly, displaying a set of small teeth that didn't fit together quite yet.

Mei looked over her shoulder and saw the tall man who often smelled like smoke, Nara.

"Chihiro," Nara-san called. His black eyes traveled over Mei briefly. "Hello, Mei-chan."

Mei smiled. She didn't think any grown-ups remembered her name except _sensei_ and Sakura-_hime_. Mei bowed her head toward Nara.

"_Ohayo_, Nara-san."

"What are you doing?"

Mei wasn't sure at first if Nara-san was addressing her or the little girl, Chihiro. But since the man was looking directly at her, and Chihiro wasn't saying anything, Mei supposed she should answer.

"Waiting for Kaito-kun." She pointed to the hospital for an explanation. "He went up to see the scarecrow man with Sakura-_hime_."

Nara-san raised an eyebrow crookedly at the hospital as the corners of his mouth twitched a bit like he was trying not to smile. Mei wondered what was so funny. She knew Sakura wasn't really a princess, and no one else called the woman that, but she had healed Mako and she was saving Kaito from his worst nightmare and Mei was convinced she fit into at least _one_ of Naruto-_sensei's _stories. Nara-san let out a huff of breath that almost sounded like a laugh.

"Scarecrow man, huh?" he asked.

Mei bit her lip nervously. Maybe that had been the wrong thing to say. But Sakura-_hime_ had said the man was a scarecrow, and he even _looked _like a scarecrow with so little that actually resembled a face instead of cloth and hair.

"Right," Nara-san declared. "C'mon, Chihiro-chan. We gotta go home now."

"No!" Chihiro squealed and ran up to Mei, wrapping small, stout arms around the other girl's waist.

"Chihiro," grumbled Nara-san in a long drawl that would have made Mei obey instantly.

"Don't wanna go!" Chihiro pouted.

Mei looked up at the girl's uncle nervously. He looked more annoyed than angry, but she had seen some fathers who were mean when they were annoyed. Maybe if she could calm Chihiro enough to listen.

"Would you like it if I told you a story, Chihiro-chan?" Mei blurted hopefully. "I know a lot of good stories."

The little girl looked up at Mei with wide eyes.

"What stories?" she demanded selfishly.

Mei took a moment to bring all her favorites to mind.

"The story of _tsuru-hime_," she listed, "and the story of Momotaro, and the tale of the Gallant Jiraiya—"

"The what?" Nara-san interrupted sharply.

"The tale of the Gallant Jiraiya," Mei repeated and glanced up at the man. He didn't look angry, only very, very awake. Mei thought maybe he didn't know the story. "He was called that because his name meant 'Young Thunder.' It's _sensei's _favorite story."

Nara-san blinked but then looked at Mei curiously. He knelt down to the girls' level and cocked his head.

"Could you tell it to us while you wait for Kaito?" he asked.

Mei thought for a moment. Chihiro did look very excited, and Mei liked the story well enough to tell it.

"Okay," she agreed.

She hoped she would do as well as _sensei_. She thought she could. _Sensei _could make the toads sounds from somewhere deep in his throat like no one else could, but Mei knew the story well. Jiraiya had to win the hand of Tsunade-_hime_ and defeat the evil Yaashagoro, who took the name Orochimaru when he learned snake magic.

"We can go in there while we wait." Nara-san pointed to a small teashop across the street. "I'll keep an eye out for Sakura and Kaito-kun for you."

"Thank you." Mei smiled up at the man. She thought she understood better why _sensei_ liked this place so much. It was bigger and busier than Hafuko was, but everyone was so friendly.

**o0O0o**

"No."

Naruto's heart fell directly into his left foot, followed swiftly by his stomach.

"What?" he blurted unintentionally.

Raikage was _supposed_ to say yes! But the large dark man simply turned his gaze calmly to face Naruto's mask.

"This isn't our war," he said. "Why should Kumo get involved? We aren't allies with Konoha."

Naruto ground his teeth together so he wouldn't say anything. He wanted to throw Raikage's debt in the man's face. Nearly four years ago, the man had practically been offering asylum for Raiden in Kumo, no questions asked. Naruto guessed the man had changed his mind about Raiden sometime between then and now.

Or maybe Bee had simply told his brother who Raiden really was, and Raikage decided he didn't want to be in debt to someone like him.

"Orochimaru won't be satisfied with Konoha," Sasuke returned just as calmly. "Cut off the snake's tail, and its head can still bite."

Raikage's eyes pierced Sasuke, and Naruto could already see the insult coming on. Quickly, he stepped forward, drawing all eyes to him.

"Didn't you say you owed me one, _dojin-sama_?" he demanded a little harsher than was strictly polite. But Raikage cared about etiquette about as much as Naruto did.

"I already offered to help you." Raikage glared at Raiden as if reprimanding him for bringing up that point.

"But you never did," Naruto pointed out, choosing not to mention that was only because Naruto didn't want to accept an offer of asylum from a place other than his home. "So, help me fight Orochimaru."

Raikage frowned thoughtfully and lowered his feet from the top of his desk. Slowly, he stood up until he towered over his guests once again.

"Kumogakure will not aid Konoha in this war," he declared solemnly.

Naruto clenched his teeth together and balled his hands into fists tightly. He wanted to shout, to demand something, but he knew enough of the longtime Raikage to know that the man was as bull-headed as his brother. He wasn't going to back down, not even for Raiden. Naruto scoffed softly then turned on his heel and stomped out of the brightly lit office down the stairs to the main street of Kumo again. From behind his mask, he studied the people who passed him by as they stared at his mask and coat, all the things that made him Raiden.

"Sorry," Omoi murmured from behind Naruto.

Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see Omoi leading the rest of the Konoha team, headed by Sasuke, out of the Tower. Omoi really did look apologetic, which did nothing to ease Naruto's frustration.

"If it was just you asking instead of Konoha, I think he woulda said yes," offered Omoi.

Naruto sighed and wrapped his hand around the back of his neck.

"Not helping," he muttered dispairingly.

"Yo, thunder god, what's got ya down?"

Naruto recognized the voice merely because of the syncopated rhythm that no one else ever spoke in. He snapped his head back to the Tower to see a dark-skinned man with eight swords on his back perching on a ledge and looking down at the visitors with a wide grin.

"Last I saw you, you was actin' like a clown."

"Hey!" Naruto huffed automatically at his fellow host.

"Bee-_sensei_," called Omoi. "You heard Raiden-sama was here?"

"I heard," Kirabi answered shortly.

Naruto studied the sharp grin of the _jinchuuriki_ for the _hachibi no kyogyuu_ and started getting nervous. He faced Sasuke quickly before Bee could say anything more.

"I'll meet you at the gate," he declared and jumped up to stand next to Bee.

After cocking his head dramatically to one side, just to pique Kirabi's interest, Naruto leaped from the Tower to an adjacent building. A glance over his shoulder proved that Kirabi was following him while Omoi was talking to the Konoha ninja still rooted to the ground. Naruto grinned as he landed on a rounded building. He wasn't even sure what purpose it served, but there wasn't anyone loitering around it and that was the important thing. He pushed his mask up to rest on the top of his head as Kirabi landed next to him. The dark-skinned Kumo _jinchuuriki_ turned his eyes to Naruto's fake face and grimaced.

"What're you doin' back here when you already said you were leaving for there?" Kirabi jerked one thumb to the west.

"I did leave." Naruto's thoughts followed Kirabi's gesture toward Ame but then circled right back to his current mission. "Konoha called me."

Even with the small sunglasses balanced on the bridge of Kirabi nose like goggles, Naruto could still see the older man's eyebrows jump up.

"You mean—"

"I mean they called Raiden," Naruto interrupted before Bee could get the wrong idea. "To help with their war against Orochimaru. I thought your brother might help us out."

Kirabi folded his thick arms across his torso as his eyebrows drew back down into a frown.

"He said no?"

Naruto shrugged and tried to make it as uncaring as Genkei's attitude ever was.

"Kumi and Konoha aren't allies right now," he answered, which was more a repetition of Raikage's excuse than a real answer. Kirabi was silent for a moment then uncrossed his arms to spread his hands wide in a friendly gesture as he spoke.

"I could come down and help you out," he suggested in his syncopated rapping again. "Against a snake, even an ox's got some clout."

Naruto grinned, more at the rapping than the suggestion. He had never quite understood Kirabi's penchant for that particular style of music, but then again Naruto had been taught calligraphy and _haiku_ by a couple of toads, so he wasn't about to pass judgment.

"Thanks," he sighed, "but I won't make you go against your brother."

Kirabi grinned, his teeth standing out sharply against his skin.

"You wouldn't make me," answered the larger man. "I think it'd be a nice vacation."

Naruto rolled his eyes. He remembered this argument from long ago. When Fukasaku had first jumped in on Naruto's training and declared Akatsuki was organizing another attack, Naruto had seized the chance to cut down a few more members of the organization that was so desperately trying to kill him. By the time he had reached the large lake inside Kaminari no Kuni, he realized that the three members attacking the dark-skinned man with eight swords and a stylish pair of sunglasses had not been included in Kabuto's original bingo book of Akatsuki members. Nonetheless, Naruto had jumped in the middle of the fight, armed with only his faltering knowledge of _senjutsu_ and a mask he had fashioned after remembering a boy on a misty bridge who had given his life for one he had loved.

Even after four years, Naruto was sure that both Kirabi and his brother made too big a deal of the help Naruto had provided in that battle. He had mainly ended up fighting against a boy his own age—maybe a bit older—with orange hair and a tendency to shape-shift into a strange creature when he was mad. Only after Naruto had pounded him into near-unconsciousness did he learn that all three of the new Akatsuki had once followed Sasuke. After his comrades had abandoned the orange-haired boy, Naruto found out that he was the originator of Orochimaru's curse seal and that Sasuke's Sharingan was the only thing that could keep his crazy side from emerging. Naruto, knowing the pain of turning into a monster you never wanted to see again, had reluctantly told him to go to Konoha for help before a small three-man team from Kumo arrived just in time to drive the Akatsuki stragglers away and catch Kirabi in the middle of trying to escape so that he could take a vacation.

Naruto still wasn't sure if Kirabi had just been joking, but to say something about a vacation again after four years was carrying the jest a little far. He worried that Bee might actually be serious.

"Forget it, _tako_." Naruto slashed his hand through the air vehemently. "The day you help me out, you'll be giving me that training you talked about."

Suddenly, Bee's grin looked a little less malicious and a little more enthusiastic.

"You wanna?" he demanded eagerly.

For a moment, Naruto actually considered it. As a _jinchuuriki_, Kirabi was stronger than Naruto, and they both knew it. Bee had explained, once he had found out what Naruto was and how he had known so much about Akatsuki, that he had the benefit of working in sync with his _bijuu_. _Hachibi_ submitted to Kirabi—for the most part. _Kyuubi_ did everything in its power to break Naruto every chance it got. With the training Kirabi had described, there was a good chance Naruto could be more powerful than he had ever dreamed of being. More powerful even than his father.

Even he couldn't deny that was tempting.

"Someday, yeah." Naruto nodded slowly. "But I can't leave them to fight by themselves."

He waved one hand back toward the gate, ironically in the same direction as his one true home. He already knew he couldn't afford to take time off from his current mission, even if it was to get stronger. He wasn't about to leave his home alone in the middle of a war.

"I can't let anyone else get hurt," Naruto declared firmly.

"Hmm," Kirabi hummed thoughtfully as he smoothed his thick fingers across his moustache. Then, his white grin returned abruptly. "Hey, wait at the gate."

Kirabi jumped off the building as Naruto cupped his hands around his mouth.

"Wait for what?" he shouted after the man.

He could just see Kirabi shoot a wide grin over his shoulder as he continued over rounded buildings toward the center of the village.

"Don't stress yourself worrying about it, fox," Bee called back. "I wouldn't want to let the cat out of the box."

"It's 'bag,' ya stupid _tako_," scoffed Naruto, even knowing Bee could no longer hear him.

He _never_ understood the man's obsession with rap.

**o0O0o**

Karui had to keep glancing at Samui to remind herself to walk a steady pace instead of racing ahead of her team. She had been summoned by Raikage only to have Omoi explain to her in pensive whispers that Raiden-sama was back and had spoken to both Raikage and Bee-_sensei_. Karui was eager to see the young man again. She hadn't seen him since he left Kumo after saving her _sensei_, although she had heard reports about him for the last few years. Raiden had killed the leader of Akatsuki. Raiden had put a new person in Ame into power. Raiden had destroyed an entire village in Ta no Kuni. All rumors confirmed what she already knew: Raiden-sama was powerful.

Karui allowed Samui to take the lead as they approached the gate to the village of Kumo. She heard the voices before she recognized the people, a group of four shinobi standing beside Ren's desk and looking increasingly bored the closer Karui's team got to them.

"What are we waiting for, again?" the darkest one demanded.

He was the only one who wore the standard uniform of a green _jounin_ vest as well as a Konoha _hitai-ate_ and weapons holster on his thigh. Two others were dressed in what she guessed were more traditional—or at least more family-specific—garb. One wore a strange mask that covered the upper half of his face while the other's outfit consisted mostly of the wired netting meant for protection. The last man was by far the most blatant, wearing a red and black coat Karui had seen before while a red and white mask rested on top of his head. As Karui's team approached the gate, the man shrugged carelessly at his comrade's question.

"Beats me," answered Raiden.

Karui almost laughed out loud at his nonchalance; it reminded her greatly of her own _sensei_. But then Raiden turned his head and saw the approaching trio. He straightened from his lazy pose immediately.

"Samui?" he called to the team leader.

The buxom woman stopped in front of Raiden and rested one hand on her hip in a pose that managed to be provocative despite her cool expression.

"Raiden-_sama_," Samui greeted passively. "Raikage-_sama_ has asked us to escort you back to your village and provide any assistance we can."

Raiden's gray eyes lit up suddenly.

"Really?" He glanced over at Karui and Omoi then smirked. "Raikage asked or did Bee?"

"Bee-_sensei_ talked Raikage-_sama_ into sending us," Karui jumped in. "He might change his mind about the rest, too."

Raiden's smirk morphed into a full grin that displayed about as many teeth as Bee-_sensei_ ever did.

"Well, I like that plan," declared the man. "Let's go."

Raiden led the way out the gate with his grin still fixed firmly on his young face, not even bothering to glance over his shoulder to see if the others were following. Kamui threw a smile of her own to Omoi as she hurried to follow the friendly man. Omoi followed at a more leisurely pace, and Samui brought up the rear beside the dark Konoha _jounin_. Raiden finally looked behind him and smiled at Omoi, who was scratching at his bare chin with one finger, as if he were a sage stroking his beard.

"What're you thinkin' about so deeply this time, _sou_?" he asked.

Omoi took the playful jab in stride and tilted his head curiously at Raiden.

"I wonder if your eyes are really that color," he mused aloud.

"What do you think?" Raiden returned in a challenging voice.

Omoi tapped his chin with his finger and pursed his lips.

"Probably not," he answered finally. "Your hair was lighter last time."

Raiden-sama scoffed at the answer, but Karui realized Omoi was right. The last time she had seen Raiden, she hadn't even caught a glimpse of his face. He had never taken his mask off, but he hadn't worn the bandanna that was currently around his head, either. Back then, his hair had stuck out in all direction like ripened wheat that refused to bow to the wind. Karui had seen people like that sometimes. And their eyes were always so light. Blue or pale green or some combination of colors. Not the darkening gray that Raiden's eyes flashed as he glanced to the back of the party, where Samui walked silently in company with the Konoha-nin. Karui watched Raiden shrugged his shoulders resolutely and face forward once again. She followed and wondered just what color his eyes really were.

**o0O0o**

"That's impossible," Neji growled at Shikamaru.

Standing around him, the small group Shikamaru had gathered were all echoing Neji's more abrupt protest. Lee was gaping at him, and Sakura stared at him as if he had lost his mind. Kakashi just stood on the building roof with his hands in his pockets. A part of Shikamaru wondered if anything could shock the older veteran any longer. Or maybe he actually believed his loudest student could pull something like this off.

"It's still a theory," Shikamaru sighed. "I can't prove it on my own."

That had been his mistake before; he had underestimated Naruto's determination. He needed help if he was going to solve the mystery that surrounded Raiden. To that end, he had convinced Kakashi and Sakura to join him on the hospital roof as soon as they had both emerged from the building with Kaito between them. Sakura had been reluctant to leave the kids, but Shikamaru had convinced Kaito to watch over both Mei and Chihiro while the grownups talked. The boy had a surprisingly strong protective sense about the young girl from Ame.

Neji and Lee were unexpected additions to Shikamaru's secret force. Lee had bounded up to Sakura just as the three adults were about to find a more secluded place while Neji followed obligingly behind, looking like they had both just come from a spar or training. Shikamaru had been planning to make excuses and leave them when he remembered that Lee had also seen Raiden in action just the other day. And Neji had certain traits that could be helpful to Shikamaru. Plus, they both remembered Naruto so fondly that Shikamaru didn't have to worry about them spilling secrets that still needed to be kept, for whatever reason.

Sakura frowned at Shikamaru as if she couldn't decide whether to chew him out or simply punch him into the Hokage Mountain.

"Shikamaru, Naruto died," she explained simply.

"So did Kakuzu," retorted Shikamaru. "So did Hidan. Even _he _said he had died before."

"_Genkei_ said he died," Sakura protested.

"He also said he had a brother who was taken by Orochimaru." Shikamaru shifted his cigarette around to one side of his mouth. "Didn't Naruto always think of Sasuke as a brother?"

His eyes fell on Kakashi, demanding that the older man answer him. But Kakashi remained silent.

"Orochimaru has destroyed many lives," Lee began patiently, almost apologetically for disagreeing with Shikamaru. "Perhaps it is only coincidence."

Shikamaru shook his head.

"I can't believe that everything he knows about Konoha and Orochimaru is coincidence," he declared. "He's familiar with _Kage Bunshin. _Lee, you saw what he did during Oto's attack on the wall."

Lee shrugged helplessly, but Shikamaru pressed on.

"He knew to call an Inuzuka's ninken his 'partner,' Sakura." He turned an accusing stare onto Sakura. "And why else would he know so much about Akatsuki?"

"He said Pein killed his _shishou_." Sakura's protest didn't sound quite as strong as it had a short time before.

"Pein killed Jiraiya," Shikamaru reminded her. "Did you know Raiden's favorite story is the Tale of the Gallant Jiraiya?"

That particular announcement made Kakashi stand a little straighter. Shikamaru turned his attention to the man who had once been Naruto's _sensei_.

"Mei-chan just told it to me," he explained. "Orochimaru was Jiraiya's best friend until his snake magic drove him mad and Jiraiya and his wife Tsunade had to defeat him."

"They were the _sannin_," Neji interjected coldly. "Anyone could make up a bedtime story with their names."

"Raiden said he was our age," Shikamaru countered. "How many people our age remember that Orochimaru and Jiraiya used to be on a team? How many remember they had to have been friends once?"

"When I first told him that you were my Eternal Rival, Neji," Lee began, strangely subdued, "Raiden asked whether we kept score of our contests, as Gai-_sensei_ and Kakashi-_san_ do."

Neji turned his head to stare at his former teammate, somehow managing to convey absolute shock merely by lifting his eyebrows slightly. Sakura was a little more vocal.

"That's not—" she stuttered. "He couldn't . . ."

"If you think Raiden is Naruto," Kakashi interrupted for the first time, "how did he survive Pein's attack?"

Shikamaru rifled in his pocket and pulled out the scrap of paper with the seal on it.

"Can you tell what this does?" He passed the paper to Kakashi.

Kakashi carefully took the scrap of paper between two fingers as the others watched. He held it up to his exposed eye and hummed thoughtfully.

"It looks like part of a summoning seal," Kakashi finally said. "But the border is different. More like a reverse summoning."

"Could Naruto have summoned a toad to take Pein's blow for him?" Shikamaru theorized.

"Naruto would never ask anyone to die for him." Sakura shook her head vehemently. "Not even a toad. Besides, I was there trying to heal him. That _was_ Naruto."

"Shikamaru," Lee began again, "we buried a body. If Raiden is Naruto, then what is in his grave?"

"We could always find out," Shikamaru muttered darkly.

"You will _not _inter Naruto's grave," growled Neji.

Shikamaru shook his head. He hadn't really been serious. As curious as _that _particular aspect of his theory was, Shikamaru knew Neji had too much respect for the dead to try to open a gravesite. Not to mention what Sakura would say if he suggested digging up Naruto's bones.

"It wasn't a toad," Sakura said again. "And it couldn't have been a _kage bunshin_, Shikamaru. It would have dispelled after taking the hit."

"Not if he found a way for his _kage bunshin_ to act like Kazuku's hearts did," protested Shikamaru.

His theory wasn't going over so well with his audience. Shikamaru plucked the cigarette from his mouth and exhaled a puff of smoke as he glanced down to the street, where Kaito stood between Chihiro and Mei and the busy street of Konoha.

"I can't believe that everything Raiden is is a coincidence," he repeated. "He hates Orochimaru, but he also knows about him—and his history. He knows things about Konoha that not even an ally should know. He had to have been a citizen here. He _pranked_ Sasuke."

Shikamaru turned from the view of the street and pinned Sakura with a commanding stare.

"And he smiles just like Naruto. With his eyes scrunched up."

Sakura clamped her teeth down on her lower lip so hard, Shikamaru was surprised she didn't draw blood. Ignoring her reaction, he turned to face Neji again.

"Could you tell who he was if you saw his chakra coils, Neji?"

The set of Neji's jaw told Shikamaru that his older friend wasn't exactly pleased with the question. But Neji folded his arms across his chest and raised his chin slightly.

"Usually no," he answered. "But Naruto always defied convention. The coils around his stomach were more well-defined than most."

Shikamaru nodded and didn't bother to ask why. Once the boy had been killed by Pein, the law of secrecy was pretty much moot point.

"When Raiden returns from his mission, look at his chakra coils," Shikamaru asked in a tone that was more of an order.

Neji only nodded once.

Lee's wide eyes darted from the stoic Neji to Sakura's obvious discomfort.

"I refuse to believe it," Lee finally declared with all the air of declaring a challenge. "Naruto-kun would never be so un-Youthful as to go this far for a deception. Especially for those he cared about."

"Do what you want," Shikamaru snapped uncharacteristically. "But don't tell anyone about this. I want to prove it first."

"You won't," Sakura murmured. "It's not true. It _can't_ be true."

Seeing his lovely Sakura's depressed state, Lee closed his mouth quickly and nodded. Shikamaru wasn't really worried about anyone blabbing. He knew enough of Sakura's mind to know she would be too plagued with doubts to tell anyone, and no one in Konoha could call either Neji or Kakashi forthrightly chatty. And while Lee could be enthusiastic, he was more than loyal in defense of his friends.

"I have to take Kaito and Mei home," Sakura suddenly announced.

Shikamaru nodded in agreement, and Lee and Neji, seeing the clear end of the conversation, walked to the edge of the roof and started climbing down to a balcony that would lead them inside the hospital building. Sakura took the more civilian approach, using a door built in to the maintenance access. Shikamaru stood alone with Kakashi, who still held the scrap of paper Shikamaru had taken from Naruto's file.

"You haven't said anything yet, Kakashi," Shikamaru noted as he dropped his cigarette and ground it out with his foot. "Could Naruto pull off something like this?"

Shikamaru knew his brain worked differently than most. He knew all his theorizing and postulating of how Naruto might have escaped death could be possible. But his one miscalculation when confronting Naruto had been the human aspect. He had underestimated how hard Naruto would cling to a deception. His friend had seemed so determined when Shikamaru had told him about Kurenai's then-unborn child and the need to raise up the next generation. Even now, Shikamaru had absolutely _no_ theories on what would make Naruto fake his own death and then _continue_ with the deception for four years.

Kakashi tilted his head up to look at the Hokage Mountain, with its five stone faces gazing solemnly out across the village.

"Four years ago, during the funeral," began the _sensei_, "Sasuke saw something. It was gone by the time I thought to look, but there was a trace of chakra left from someone's transportation jutsu."

Shikamaru wished he hadn't put out his smoke so quickly.

"You never said—"

"I couldn't be sure it was Naruto," Kakashi explained. "Sasuke never said what he saw, and the chakra was faint, not nearly strong enough to identify."

And, with all the ghosts hanging around Kakashi already, Shikamaru could understand why the old war veteran had never told anyone what he saw. Heck, he could even understand why Sasuke never told anyone what he saw. Even in a world of unknown techniques and extraordinary powers, ghosts were ghosts and they did not come back.

"But, Naruto always _was_ Konoha's Number One Most Suprising Ninja." Kakashi's mask wrinkled in a way that almost suggested a smile.

Shikamaru could help but let one corner of his mouth reflect Kakashi's hope. Naruto was unpredictable. Like a force of nature in a world of stoic warriors. He inspired such hope that Shikamaru barely thought of what would happen if he was wrong and Raiden wasn't Naruto. He was more concerned with if he was right: what force could induce someone like Naruto to keep quiet and keep away from the ones he considered most precious to him?

**o0O0o**

Sasuke walked sullenly beside the buxom _kunoichi_ from Kumo and stared at the party in front of him. Aburame and Yamanaka stood directly in front of Sasuke and the Kumo-nin, Samui. They had offered to take up the rear of the team, but Raiden had surprisingly vetoed the idea. Sasuke, being technically the leader, agreed with Raiden, more because he wanted _everyone_ where he could see them, and that included the two Konoha ninja he had never seen in jounin meetings before.

The real draw to Sasuke's eyes, however, was the trio leading the way. Since leaving Kumo, Raiden had grown progressively more upbeat in the company of Omoi and Karui until he was positively opposite of the morose, masked figure he had been on the way to Kumo. In fact, with the way he waved his arms about as he playfully argued a point with Omoi, Sasuke remembered a friend who had once been boisterous enough to capture the attention of the whole of Konoha.

"Where have you been Raiden-_sama_?" asked Omoi.

"Is it true you were in Ame no Kumi?" Karui piped before Raiden could blurt an answer.

"For a while, Karui-chan." Raiden smiled broadly at the dark young woman. "I'm with Konoha now."

Sasuke saw the man hold his head up a little higher at the declaration. He could almost imagine his chest puffing out proudly.

"Really?" Karui asked dubiously. She apparently did not have a high opinion of Konoha.

"Bee-_sensei_ says you're supposed to be there, anyway," Omoi commented thoughtfully.

"Well, my kids seem to like it well enough." Raiden shrugged. "They'll be happy there, I think."

"You have kids?" gasped Karui.

Raiden puffed up proudly again.

"My students," he explained. "I got three of 'em now."

Sasuke briefly considered the tone of the words and thought of Naruto, bouncing on a traitor's hospital bed and making plans. They were going to take the Chuunin Exams together—stupid _ero-sennin_ never got around to taking him—and wouldn't that be a laugh with how strong they both were, the proctors would just _have_ to promote them together, and _hey, d'ya think you can beat me now, Sasuke-teme?_

Sasuke glared at Raiden's back and shook his head furiously. Raiden was _not _like Naruto. There was no _way_ such a cold-blooded traitor could have anything in common with the boy who had saved Sasuke, not matter how jovial he was.

"I wonder if you're a good _sensei_, Raiden-_sama_," Omoi posed.

Sasuke swiftly backtracked and remind himself that he had never needed saving. Naruto hadn't done anything for him. He was just so damn _exuberant_—

"I think I do okay," replied Raiden. He grinned again. "I'm better than _my_ _sensei_, anyway. That old man just left me whenever there was a pretty girl around. He was such a pervert!"

"Shut up," Sasuke demanded of the laughing man.

Raiden finally looked over his shoulder. His mask looked crookedly toward the sky, its smile pointed halfway at Sasuke.

"Sheesh, Sasuke-_teme_," the grown man whined, "you just can't let other people be happy, can you?"

Sasuke clenched his fist tightly as his palm itched to draw his sword. How could an insult, so casually tossed out, remind him so much of one stupid boy?

"Don't call me that," he hissed through his teeth.

Raiden turned around completely, walking backwards over the forest floor as he grinned at Sasuke like the fox that caught the chicken.

"Ah, don't be jealous," he teased, still grinning widely. "You know you'd make a shitty _sensei_. You'd scare the kiddies outa their _hitai-ate, teme_."

"Don't call me that!"

Sasuke's hand gripped his sword but didn't draw it. He barely noticed the party around him freeze at the sudden tension. His eyes were on Raiden. Raiden, who joked and laughed as easily as he killed and poisoned. He was _nothing_ like Naruto, how could Sasuke even think that this man reminded him of Naruto!

Raiden's eyes flickered to the silent Yamanaka and Aburame. Each of the Konoha ninja had jotted to the side so that the way was cleared between Raiden and Sasuke. Sasuke could probably draw his sword and attack the man before either of the other Konoha shinobi could move. Raiden turned his frown back on Sasuke, looking like a put out child.

"Well, you _are_ a bastard," he sulked.

Something in Sasuke snapped. Raiden spoke as if he _expected_ Sasuke to be nice, to be friendly. Sasuke would never be friendly; it wasn't in his nature, not to mention how little he thought of the _nuke-nin_ hired to fight in the war against Orochimaru. He was an _Avenger_. He lived for the dead, for their honor and in their memory. He still didn't know how to honor a person who had been so _indomitable_, and now Raiden only reminded Sasuke of his ghosts and his failure to pacify them. Sasuke glared at Raiden and focused instead on all the ways that Raiden was the complete opposite of Naruto.

"You aren't even human," growled Sasuke.

Raiden's eyes widened in shock, but what else could Sasuke call a man who didn't understand what it meant to be a sacrifice? What was he planning on doing after the war? He had refused refuge in Konoha, but made his students wards of the village.

"You don't understand what the word means," Sasuke continued while those around him kept absolutely silent. "You don't care what happens to your students. You probably didn't even care when your brother died—"

"Don't tell me that I don't care!" roared Raiden suddenly.

Sasuke yanked his _kodachi_ from the sheath on his back and prepared himself for an attack. But Raiden just stood there, with the two Kumo nin standing nervously at his back, eyeing Sasuke with varying degrees of suspicion and curiosity.

"It's not the way I wanted it, but those kids are _mine_!" Raiden growled, punctuating his words with a wave of his hand toward the south. "Didn't you ever find something to protect?"

Sasuke's angry glare melted into puzzlement. _Something to protect?_

Suddenly, Raiden's head snapped to the south, twisting his neck so fast Sasuke could almost hear the joints of Raiden's vertebrae pop. His face switched from angry to worried as he stared at some distant point on the darkening horizon.

"Crap," the man muttered.

"Raiden-_sama_?" queried Omoi.

"Something's happened in Konoha," Raiden answered hurriedly.

"How can you tell?" Sasuke demanded with his blade still bared in the twilight.

Strangely, Raiden refused to look at him.

"One of my seals went off," he exhaled in a rush of breath.

Sasuke though he saw Raiden's eyes travel over the Yamanaka swiftly, but then the man was looking at the Kumo _kunoichi_ behind Sasuke with no sense of hesitation.

"Samui, keep going," he ordered. "I'll meet you in Konoha."

"How will you—" Sasuke tried to ask before Raiden simply vanished.

"That's new," remarked Karui oddly.

Sasuke's red eyes scowled. He _hadn't_ vanished. People, even ninjas, did not disappear into thin air. The body mass had to do _something_, even if it defied the laws of physics while it did. But all Sasuke's Sharingan saw was a brief glimpse of yellow before the space where Raiden had stood was simply empty.

Samui looked at the spot where Raiden had been then glanced over the mismatched team of Konoha and Kumo.

"Shall we continue, then?" she prompted.

Omoi and Karui both shouldered their packs obediently and leaped into the trees to continue at a faster pace. Aburame followed them while Sasuke continued to stare at the empty spot on the forest floor.

"Uchiha-san," Yamanaka prompted.

Sasuke scowled at him then jumped onto a nearby branch. It didn't mean anything, that flash of yellow. That it was the same color as a shock of hair Sasuke had, at one time, _thought_ he had seen hovering on the edges of a funeral four years ago _didn't mean anything_.

As Sasuke jumped from tree branch to branch, he ignored the small voice in his head, the one that sounded just like an obnoxious twelve-year-old teammate. The one that asked him what it _would _mean, if it happened to mean something.

**o0O0o**

Naruto landed with a grunt on top of the seal he had placed directly on Yondaime's stone head embedded in Hokage Mountain. It was dusk in Konoha, and the village was quiet. No sign of any trouble, no attacks, no reason for him to come back. At least outwardly. Naruto closed his eyes and concentrated. Each seal felt different to him if he felt with his _senjutsu_. There, the Monument. Naruto pulled his mask back over his face and hoped the darkness would be enough to hide the longer ends of his hair. He brought his hands together and felt for the right seal.

With a jerk that lifted Naruto off his feet, Naruto soared from the Mountain to Konoha Memorial Field within the space of a breath. The sudden jarring was always a bit dizzying, but Naruto had learned to shake off the effects of his unique mode of travel quickly.

The Memorial Field was still and quiet. The last remnants of the sun had disappeared, leaving only a pink band on the horizon that bled into the darker sky. Naruto couldn't sense any of the kids. But someone else was behind him. Someone whose chakra was twisted, morphed, and familiar.

"Did you think I would not recognize the seals of Yondaime Hokage?" a deep voice asked him.

Naruto curled his hands into fists and turned around to the person at his back.

"_You_," he growled hatefully.

* * *

A/N: Please note that I think I have just declared myself evil.

Between the last chapter and this one, I have done more supposition and theorizing about the biological effects of the curse seal than I ever thought possible. I should thank my brother (he's a med student in Chicago) for long conversations dumbing down the language for me to use, and my own after-school cartoons (I grew up with Spider-Man and X-men on Fox Kids).

About the names: Mei's surname, Aki, simply means "autumn," like the season. I've seen the name Kirabi, the _jichuuriki _of _hacibi_, written as Killerbee in English translations, which is probably more accurate, but I decided to stick with the transliteration instead for consistency's sake. His nickname is still Bee, though.

About Mei's story: There really is a tale of the Gallant Jiraiya. I found it when I was looking for Japanese folktales earlier in this work and decided I really wanted to refer to it in here. Originally, I had Mei telling the entirety of the story, but I decided that was really superfluous to the story. Look it up if you really want to read it, but basically Jiraiya has to win the hand of Tsunade-_hime_ and defeat Yashagoro, a friend of his who turns evil and takes the name Orochimaru. Now where have we heard that before?

And just to make you hate me more, I'll be on hiatus for the month of November. I know the last time I tried this, I ended up leaving my story perpetually stranded in a cliffhanger. But at least I have a good excuse this time. I rediscovered my 2010 New Year's Resolutions (yes, i kept them and yes, i am a nerd). Anyway, one of my goals is to participate in NaNoWriMo in November, so I'm sorry, but I shall now disappear—and hopefully reappear at the end of the month with a completed work of fiction.

Wouldn't that be novel? (ha ha)

Sincerely,

Fia

_dojin-sama _ – _dojin_ is a Japanese slang for a person of color. Given Naruto's love of obvious nicknames, he'd probably call Raikage something like this.

_jian _– a Chinese straight sword. I looked at the sword on Omoi's back in the manga, and it doesn't appear to be a regular _katana_. And since I am such a fan of distinguishing cultures within Kishimoto-_sensei_'s world, I wanted the Kumo ninja to have a slightly different weapon than the rest of the nations (like how Ame-nin prefer senbon). Made sense to me.

_sou_ – the best word I could find for a monk. Given Omoi's tendency to overthink things, I think this would be an appropriate Naruto-bestowed nickname.

_tako _– octopus, although I'm not entirely sure if _hachibi _is an octopus or an ox or some combination of the two.


	10. In Which They Protect

Chapter 9: In Which They Protect

"_He that is the author of a war lets loose the whole contagion of hell and opens a vein that bleeds a nation to death."_

~ Thomas Paine

**o0O0o**

Shimura Danzo let the weight of his left arm settle inside his _yukata_ as he leaned on his cane. Showing no expression on his face was basically second nature by now, and he held up the thin sheet of paper he had discovered in the Memorial Field.

"Did you think I would not recognize Yondaime Hokage's seals?" he demanded of the masked man who stood before him.

Uzumaki Naruto tightened his hands into hard fists and growled.

"_You bastard._"

Apparently, his young weapon was, essentially, very much the same as he ever was. At least the boy knew that nothing would be gained by attacking Danzo.

"What the hell do you want?" spat the mask.

"You have voluntarily broken your word," Danzo accused as he lowered his hand and slid the paper seal up into his sleeve.

"I _never_ go back on my word," snapped Uzumaki.

As Danzo had anticipated, the boy was too focused on the supposed insult to notice that Danzo had taken his seal. Really, Uzumaki was far too easily manipulated. Danzo stepped forward and eyed the boy before him.

"You were to be dead to Konoha," he stated accusingly.

"I am!" shouted Uzumaki. "If you haven't noticed, my name's on that damned stone!"

He gestured wildly to the Memorial Stone behind him. Danzo didn't even spare the old tribute a glance. He had no time to worry about the dead; they no longer needed his concern anyway. Of more importance was the boy in front of him. If he grew any louder, someone might come to investigate. Danzo had to move this along quickly.

"Yet you return," he noted in a bland voice.

Uzumaki leaned back in a pose of arrogance and folded his arms across his chest.

"Aren't I a shinobi of Konoha?" he demanded. "So, how could I refuse a request from the Hokage?"

His voice was triumphant, as if he had discovered a loophole in Danzo's plan. But Danzo knew there was no such escape for the _jinchuuriki_. He always made sure that he held all the cards. It wasn't too hard, either, knowing that Uzumaki would do anything to keep Uchiha Sasuke safe. As long as Danzo had the ability to move freely in his own village, Uchiha was in danger, and Uzumaki belonged to ROOT.

"Your missions come from me now," Danzo reminded the masked man.

He saw Uzumaki flinch backward at the reminder of his new loyalties.

"Hey, you want the damn snake dead or not?" Uzumaki demanded with a snide tone.

Danzo narrowed his uncovered eye in disgust. The boy would never learn to control his emotions. Danzo was shocked that he had managed to keep his identity a secret for so long inside in his old home. He supposed it helped that nearly the entire village of Konoha had watched the boy be buried in a tightly sealed coffin. If there was one thing Danzo regretted in his actions involving Uzumaki, it was that he had never found out exactly how the boy had managed to escape death. He didn't know if it was one of the fox's powers, or if was a new technique the boy had come up with on his own. He only knew Uzumaki had somehow survived because the boy was foolish enough to return to his home after he had traveled to Amegakure to kill the leader of Akatsuki.

Danzo suspected the boy had planned it that way. He would appear to die for his village, thereby securing Akatsuki's interest elsewhere once he was gone. With his death, there would no need for Danzo to continue to threaten the last Uchiha, supposedly. It was a surprisingly good plan from such a hothead as Uzumaki. Danzo hadn't thought him capable of thought-out strategy. But it no longer mattered. Uzumaki belonged to _him_.

Danzo used his cane to shuffle quietly closer to the Memorial Stone. From a distance, he knew he would look like one of many wounded war veterans visiting the final site of an old friend. But Danzo barely looked at the stone before him. All his attention was fixed on the boy who refused to move from the path to make it easier for an old man to limp to the Memorial Stone. Danzo could feel Uzumaki's heated gaze follow his slow movements and relished that he had the boy's full attention.

"You failed your last mission." The words were cold, calculated to remind his weapon of exactly what capacity he served.

As anticipated, Uzumaki's intense and disapproving stare shifted to something closer to shame. This was another reason Uzumaki would never be a truly powerful weapon. What power he did have, he hated to use.

"I did what you wanted," snarled Uzumaki in a colder voice than Danzo had thought him capable of. "There was nothing left in Asahi."

"Yes, you managed to call the attention of both Konoha and Oto." Danzo took up his lecturing tone on the boy. "You forced my hand. You are now recorded as a _nuke-nin_ in all bingo books because of the information I provided."

The status was actually quite an easy thing to manage. No one had any information on this new threat that could wipe out a village with a single blow, and so all the villages were eager to blame someone else. When each said that he must have come from elsewhere and, at the same time, no one claimed him, it was a very small step to lead them to assume that whatever Raiden's home village was not his home any longer and did not wish to give up what secrets they had about their renegade ninja. So, he was a _nuke-nin_.

_ "Raiden_ is a missing nin," corrected Uzumaki firmly.

He still held that same absurd faith, insisting on believing things to be the way he wished them instead of the way things were. He was as foolish and naïve as Sarutobi ever was.

"And Uzumaki Naruto is dead," Danzo countered.

He had thought the reminder would work to cow Uzumaki into a state suitable for obedience once again. But the boy only huffed and turned his back on Danzo deliberately.

"Don't worry, once this war is over I'm outa here."

The words were said with an exaggerated air of annoyance. Had Danzo heard them in passing, he would have supposed the speaker happy to leave as soon as possible. But Uzumaki Naruto was too unchanging and too stupidly forgiving to have anything but an idealistic love for his village. So Danzo turned to face Uzumaki's back and prodded one of the newest weak spots he had discovered.

"With your students again?"

Uzumaki only rolled his head on his shoulders and shrugged.

"That's up to them," he replied easily.

Danzo reformed his opinion of the _jinchuuriki_. Apparently, Uzumaki had learned how to lie, but he hadn't mastered the subtleties yet. His shoulders were still tense when he spoke, and he rolled his head to disguise the tension. The trick might even have worked on a civilian, but Danzo knew the art of lying better. He stepped forward with the aid of his cane.

"I hope they will choose to stay," he said as he walked past Uzumaki. "I would be curious to see how they grow with your influence guiding them."

With his back now to Uzumaki, Danzo could feel the boy's anger radiating from him. He was broadcasting killing intent with such force that he would have knocked over at least five genin by now. Danzo only glanced over his shoulder calmly.

"Shall we go?" he suggested as if he were inviting a friend out to tea. "I still need to hear your report before the next move is made."

The jab was a subtle reminder that Uzumaki took his orders from and reported only to Danzo, as was agreed upon for the price of the lives of Uzumaki's friends. If Uchiha had once proved an easier target than the others, it only meant that Danzo had more ways planned for the Uchiha's possible assassination and less for the others that Uzumaki claimed to care for.

As Danzo watched, Uzumaki balled his hands into tight fists. Danzo thought for a moment that the boy would protest. It would be a very stupid thing to do, considering Danzo's mention of the three children that had accompanied Uzumaki back to Konoha. That puzzled Danzo. Even if he had remained within Konoha as a shinobi under Tsunade, Uzumaki would not make a suitable _sensei_. He was far too absent-minded, and he did not have the discipline needed to instruct the next generation. And then the children themselves were oddities. One boy was from Konohagakure, one from Ta no Kuni, and the girl was from Ame no Kuni. One rambunctious and wild genin, one dark cursed boy, and a girl who seemed not to have any appropriate skills for the student of a ninja.

But then, Danzo had never had the passion for the next generation that Sarutobi had had. Danzo only established his organization ROOT and trained his weapons from an early age because they needed to be trained. Only by reaching them at an early age was he able to mold them as he required.

Uzumaki's hands released themselves from their fists, and he began to walk toward Danzo. Pleased at the obedience, no matter how it was reached, Danzo once again turned his back on the masked ninja known as Raiden and led the way to his own fortress, built within the constructs of the village that had been his home for his entire life.

**o0O0o**

Tsunade bent over her desk and read through a report requesting a team to help unload a large delivery of groceries at the main market in Konoha. It could have been because of the repetitive nature of reading through each request for D-ranked mission, but Tsunade was already getting thirsty and the sun had barely been up for an hour. She sighed and leaned back in her chair. Surely, she had to have _some _secret stash of alcohol that Shizune hadn't discovered and raided yet. Tsunade's train of thought was violently derailed when a loud banging on her door made her look up just in time to see Uchiha Sasuke slump his way into her office.

Sasuke looked, for all accounts, disheveled, which in and of itself was enough of a shock to wake Tsunade up fully. He was followed into the office by three Kumo ninja, two with the dark skin that was common in the northern country. Yamanaka Fuu and Aburame Torune, who had strangely been the only jounin who had willingly volunteered for the mission to Kumo, brought up the rear. When no one else was forthcoming through the large wooden doors, Tsunade straightened in her chair and folded her hands in front of her chin, waiting for an explanation as to why her team returned minus one _nuke-nin_.

"Where's Raiden?" Sasuke demanded.

Well, so much for that explanation.

"He's not with you?" Tsunade's eyes narrowed at the Uchiha.

She found it hard to believe that Sasuke would have simply _lost_ Konoha's newest ally. He had been against finding Raiden in the first place, and then Tsunade herself had seen time and again the way those two butted heads. While the clash of personalities wasn't surprising—she doubted Sasuke could get along with anyone for an extended period of time—the way Raiden either joked around with Sasuke or conversely treated him even more coldly than Sasuke treated most of his comrades was strange.

Sasuke stomped up to Tsunade's desk and placed both his hands flat on the wood as he leaned over.

"He teleported somewhere halfway back to Konoha," Sasuke muttered in a low voice. Fortunately, the Kumo ninja didn't seem interested in eavesdropping. "He said one of his seals went off and something was wrong in Konoha."

Tsunade resisted the instinct to turn and glance out the large windows overlooking her village to see if anything was wrong. She would not see anything with such a casual glance, and she would not show any signs of panic or unease in front of foreign shinobi. Instead, she resigned herself to staring up at the dark man hovering over her desk like a vulture.

"What kind of seal?" she questioned. "And how would he know that it went off?"

"I don't know," growled Sasuke. "He said something about his kids."

Silently, Tsunade pondered her newly-acquired information. She didn't know how Raiden had managed to plant seals in her village without anyone seeing him, much less what the seals did. If they were monitoring seals, then she could be in danger of someone else watching her village. But Sasuke had said something about Raiden's kids. Maybe they were the ones who had alerted Raiden of some kind of change. Tsunade lowered her hands to the desk and gazed at Sasuke with an air of concern.

"You look tired, Sasuke," she said. "Why don't you go home and rest? Fuu-san and Torune-san can give the report on the mission."

Sasuke frowned at the Hokage and looked almost like he would have protested.

"I'm sure the little family in your house is concerned for your safe return," Tsunade reminded him pointedly.

Tsunade was privileged enough to see Sasuke's eyes flicker slightly, the only outward sign of his understanding that he would show. The dark jounin bowed abruptly to the Hokage then turned on his heel and marched out of the office as quickly as he had come in. The two dark-skinned Kumo ninja watched him go then turned back to Tsunade. The ninja with the lolly in his mouth frowned thoughtfully while the kunoichi looked plain suspicious.

"Thank you for agreeing to aid us in our hard time," Tsunade said diplomatically.

"We are only here to aid Raiden-sama," announced the blonde kunoichi.

A stab of betrayal ran through Tsunade's already-suspicious mind. Raiden _had _said that Raikage owed him a favor, and thus Raiden would be the persuasive one on the mission. But Raiden was only going on the mission on behalf of Konoha. He was supposed to get allies for _Konoha_, not build up his own personal army.

"I see," replied Tsunade blandly.

"There might be more coming if Bee-_sensei_ can convince Raikage-sama." The light-haired Kumo ninja stroked his chin thoughtfully as he spoke.

"Or if Bee-_sensei_ escapes from Raikage-sama," scoffed the younger kunoichi.

Tsunade had some trouble translating both of their statements. Apparently, Raiden was not the only one whose influence over Raikage Tsunade had to worry about. She only wondered who acted as the two shinobi's _sensei_. Tsunade placed her hands flat on her desk and stood deliberately.

"Well, we appreciate your help," she declared. "Our head of Intelligence, Morino Ibuki, will tell you—"

Tsunade cut herself off abruptly when the doors to her office opened yet again, and Shimura Danzo walked in without a knock of warning. Tsunade drew in a deep breath and steeled her face not to show any of her annoyance at being interrupted, much less by someone she most decidedly did not like.

"Hokage-sama, forgive me for interrupting." Danzo's voice was completely submissive even while his posture was completely unbending.

"Not at all." Tsunade smiled with gritted teeth.

She directed her smile toward the three Kumo shinobi, hyper-aware of how they watched the interplay of tension in the office.

"The chuunin just down the hall can escort you to Morino-san's office," she announced, a clear dismissal of the foreign soldiers.

The leader, the blonde kunoichi whose facial expression hadn't changed once since she entered the office, nodded her head at Godaime Hokage then turned and left the office. The two younger shinobi followed readily, if not a little more hesitantly. Tsunade could see the girl's curiosity as she hung back, trailing behind her teammates as if being the last one out would let her see even a hint of Konoha's secrets. But Tsunade had lived in the world of ninja for too long to let others in on her secrets so easily. She knew better than to show any of her true feelings in front of foreigners.

Once the heavy wooden door had closed behind the Kumo team, Tsunade directed the full force of her displeased frown at Danzo.

"What are you doing here?" she demanded coldly.

"The Council thought a meeting was necessary this far into our affairs with Otogakure," Danzo announced.

Tsunade hated how the man could make it sound as if he were the one in charge and Tsunade answered to him instead of the other way around.

"The Council answers to the Hokage, Danzo," Tsunade felt the need to remind him. "Not the other way around."

Danzo didn't seem at all perturbed by Tsunade's obvious displeasure. He stepped further into the office, leaning slightly on his cane as he did.

"The Council is fully able to call a meeting on its own in certain circumstances," Danzo reminded her.

"Only if the Hokage is incapacitated," snapped back Tsunade.

Danzo had tried that trick once, when the battle with Pein over Konoha had nearly emaciated her. Fortunately, Tsunade still had enough wits about her to insist that Uzumaki Naruto's name be carved into the Memorial Stone, even though he hadn't technically been on a mission when he died. He had died to protect his home, and that was as good as anything in Tsunade's book.

"Or during a time of war, such as we find ourselves in now."

Danzo managed to sound like an adult lecturing a new recruit or freshly promoted chuunin. Tsunade narrowed her eyes at him.

"And given the news that Raiden has returned with, the Council thought it appropriate to discuss the next course of action," continued Danzo calmly.

_What news?_ Tsunade wanted to demand. But to ask that would only show off her own ignorance about the missing nin she was she adamant about hiring. Instead, she straightened her stance, determined to retake control in the room.

"And where is Raiden now?" _Now that Danzo had finished working his way into a potential ally of Konoha_.

"He awaits in the Council room with the rest of us."

Danzo tilted his head back toward the heavy wooden door of the office. At the same time, he raised his cane a bit off the floor to indicate the way out, obviously expecting Tsunade to exit with him. Tsunade glared at the man who thought he could control the Hokage's office with simply his own machinations. He had obviously called the meeting of the Council himself and only informed her after the fact. And he knew something about Raiden or Raiden's new information that she didn't. That fact irked Tsunade more than anything else. _Nuke-nin_ were generally unreliable as to loyalty anyway. If Raiden had chosen to stand behind Danzo instead of Tsunade, then she would have to worry about enemies within Konoha as well as the foe she was fighting in Otogakure.

Tsunade slowly stepped from behind her desk and approached Danzo with a purposeful stride.

"Well, let's not keep the Council waiting," she said easily, as if calling a meeting of the Council had been her idea all along.

Danzo shifted slightly to let Tsunade pass by him. Godaime Hokage strode out of her office down the hall, hearing the soft tapping of a cane behind her, and wondered how best to induce a heart attack in a meddlesome old man.

**o0O0o**

Kakashi sat in a high-backed chair and flipped the page of a familiar book. He heard a disgusted sigh from beside him but ignored Mitokado Homura's disapproval of his favored entertainment. The little orange book was a perfect foil. Kakashi was still surprised at how many seasoned shinobi simply assumed that a porn book rendered him blind and deaf to the things around him. For example, at least half the people gathered in the room dedicated to meetings were displeased that they had been called for a meeting when the Hokage was nowhere to be found. The other half was nervously watching the silent man who stood in one corner with his arms held tensely at his side and his white and red mask staring straight ahead. Regardless of the tension he had to be aware of, Raiden stood as still as a statue. The image was a stark contrast to the first time Kakashi had met him in the Hokage's office. Then, he had negotiated his way into a strange contract with the Hokage, tossing out flippant comments about both his power and his students.

Kakashi had been appointed to the Council shortly after Pein's attack on Konoha four years ago. Tsunade had simply stated that she needed more allies within the constraints of Konoha's government. Kakashi had agreed, albeit reluctantly, even though he really had no taste for politics. He found himself generally disliked by the Council members, although that might have been because he retained his habit of being tardy for meetings.

He was a bit disappointed that Tsunade's tardiness was now making his own a moot point.

Just as Homura let out another disgruntled noise, the door to the meeting room open to admit Godaime Hokage, with Shimura Danzo following at a slow shuffle.

"Six hundred ryou this meeting was called by Danzo, not Tsunade," Shikaku muttered.

The Nara clan leader had gotten into the surprising habit of making small bets with Kakashi on the outcome of certain Council meetings. Perhaps unsurprisingly, Shikaku tended to win the bets. To anyone else, it might look like an innocent vice between two ninja. But as the bets often gave hints as to Shikaku's observations on any given political situation, Kakashi was more than happy to lose. He suspected that it was Shikaku's way of passing along information in a forced casual way.

Kakashi glanced from Tsunade's commanding presence to Danzo as he limped into the room behind her. Other than the fact that Tsunade seemed unusually serious, there was nothing to suggest that she was perturbed at the meeting. Still, Shikaku was rarely wrong, and he had been attending meetings that involved Shimura Danzo for longer than Kakashi had.

"Done." Kakashi's eye remained on the pages of his book as he answered the older man.

Tsunade took her spot in the chair at the head of the long table, overseeing her varied Council members. Danzo's seat was on the north side of the table, at the foot, and he sank into it gracefully for a crippled man. Kakashi was curious to note that Danzo's eye strayed to the ever-silent Raiden instead of watching the Hokage as Kakashi suspected he would.

"What's happened, Hokage-sama?" questioned one of the doctors that served in the hospital. He was the chief of staff and had worked extensively with Tsunade to renovate the _iryou-nin_ training for the field as well as the hospital staff.

"Raiden seems to have acquired new knowledge about our enemy." Tsunade's green eyes pinned Raiden as surely as a kunai.

Raiden only tilted his head so that his mask looked out over the room at a strange angle.

"I know where _hebi-teme_ is hiding."

He announced it so casually that it took a moment for Kakashi to realize who the man was talking about. It wasn't until he remembered how Kaito had referred to _hebi-teme's _seal that he recognized the strangely appropriate name for Orochimaru.

"Where?" demanded Komura from his place beside Kakashi.

"In a compound beneath the Mogami River in Ta no Kuni," Raiden replied without hesitation.

"And how do you know this?" Shikaku asked.

Kakashi was somewhat surprised that Nara had volunteered a question. Usually he didn't speak unless it was to protest or put pieces of a puzzle together that no one else could see. Raiden's mask turned to face the scarred man, but Kakashi didn't even hear the masked man breathing. For as much as body language could tell a person in a world where lies and deception were common, all that Raiden's body told Kakashi was that the _nuke-nin_ was tense. He held himself stiffly, and he moved as little as possible. Kakashi wished the man would remove his mask so that Kakashi could see his face, but he guessed that request would not go over well. Especially coming from a man who hadn't shown his entire face in public since he was five.

"I have . . . a spy in Orochimaru's ranks," Raiden finally answered Shikaku.

"A spy?" Tsunade spoke up, her voice cold. "And this is the first time you thought to let us know?"

"He doesn't exactly work for me," Raiden growled as his mask turned to face Tsunade. "Apparently, he just lets me know things when he thinks it would be fun to tell me."

"Fun?" Tsunade repeated.

Raiden didn't elaborate. Tsunade continued to stare at the white mask while Raiden continued to imitate a stone statue.

"_Maa_," Kakashi sighed as he closed his book and slid it into his pocket. "Even if we have the information, what can we do with it?"

It would certainly be suicide for them to storm Orochimaru's hideout, even with—

"I can kill a snake," announced Raiden coldly.

Kakashi's eye turned back to the young man. He knew, empirically, how Raiden's known encounters with Orochimaru or his underlings had turned out. But he couldn't shake the feeling that this cold display of hatred was unlike Raiden's character. He had seen the man bunk down in an uncomfortable bed in a hospital room just to be near his students. And even Kakashi had heard about the pranking of Uchiha Sasuke in the Hokage's office. But Raiden was as far from his apparent prank-loving nature as Kakashi supposed it was possible to get.

"I just wanted to let you know," the _nuke-nin_ commented, turning his masked face to Tsunade again. "You don't even have to send a team with me. It's better if I do this alone."

"Alone?" repeated Tsunade in the same cold tone.

"I know you saw what happened in Asahi." Raiden's voice suddenly sounded tired. "I'm the only one who can survive that jutsu."

"What jutsu?" Homura interjected.

"_Kamikaze?"_

Kakashi didn't turn to look at Shikaku when the older man named an unfamiliar jutsu. He was too busy watching Raiden react. The man's head snapped to Shikaku and stayed there, staring at him. But there was no _sakki_ leaking from Raiden's body. In fact, Kakashi thought he detected some nervous energy coming from Raiden's still form, like he was scared. Then, suddenly, Raiden lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug.

"A punishing wind from the gods." His voice sounded darkly amused. "Noboru thought it was an appropriate name."

Suddenly, Raiden looked at Tsunade and folded his arms across his chest.

"I'm not asking you for permission," he said shortly. "I just thought you'd like to know that I'm earning my keep."

Tsunade relaxed her straightened spine and leaned back in her chair.

"I seem to recall you didn't want payment," noted the Hokage.

"The contract only says that I am employed by you until my death or Orochimaru's." Raiden said nothing about Tsunade's comment. "And I'm getting sick of being used for guard duty."

Tsunade opened her mouth to say something, but Raiden quickly cut her off with a wave of his hand.

"I'll be leaving by noon today," he announced. "Just wanted to let you know."

With that, the masked man turned and padded softly out of the room. Kakashi watched him go, noting the way the mask turned slowly with the man's body so that the blank eyes surveyed the Council table once briefly before his departure. Kakashi knew Raiden recognized him—from reputation or personal experience, Kakashi didn't know yet. But he wondered how many others at the table the man had known before coming to Konoha.

As Raiden left the room, Danzo sat back in his chair and kept his focus on Tsunade. It was impossible to read the man's emotions, Kakashi had learned, but nevertheless he was beginning to suspect that Shikaku had been right about which one actually ordered the Council to come together.

Once the heavy door closed again behind Raiden, Homura turned to Tsunade.

"Surely, you will not allow this, Tsunade," he declared, making his statement more of an expectation than a question.

Tsunade once again laced her fingers together in front of her chin.

"Raiden is correct about the contract," she noted. "We only hired him to kill Orochimaru. If he can manage to do that, the war will go much more smoothly for us."

Kakashi watched Homura's bespectacled eyes flicker from Tsunade down to the end of the table where Danzo sat. Well, damn. Now he owed Shikaku six hundred ryou. As another Council member protested that killing Orochimaru would not negate the fact that others may rise up in Otogakure's leadership and carry on the war, Kakashi tilted his head slightly toward the man at his side.

"_Kamikaze_?" he asked almost silently.

"Something my son brought up," Shikaku muttered back. "He said he had heard one of Raiden's students mention it."

Kakashi made sure not to nod where others could see his response to the quiet conversation.

"I will not send a team with Raiden," Tsunade declared loudly, forcing Kakashi's full attention back to the meeting. "As an assassin, Raiden would only put a team in danger. And if he is killed in the attempt, no one will be able to trace him back to Konoha."

Tsunade stood abruptly, causing the two ANBU seated at the Council table to snap to attention.

"We'll make a final decision on our next movement once Raiden completes his mission," she announced, and thus ended the meeting.

Kakashi lagged behind as people started to file out of the room behind the Hokage. He lazily retrieved the small orange book from his pocket and was quick to bury his nose in its pages again. When he stepped out into the hallway, Kakashi suddenly neglected his book in lieu of the situation he encountered.

Raiden had a Konoha ninja pinned to the wall of the hallway, a sharp kunai held to the man's throat. Kakashi didn't recognize the shinobi Raiden was threatening, but it was hard to see the man's face with his strange mask that covered the edges of his face along with his eyes, leaving only his mouth and nose exposed. Raiden hadn't removed his mask, but Kakashi could feel the waves of _sakki_ coming from the _nuke-nin_.

"You _won't_ touch them," he growled in the Konoha ninja's face.

Suddenly, one of the ANBU who had been present in the Council meeting drew his kodachi and held it to Raiden's throat. Another ANBU, this one with an oddly hook-shaped mask and long black hair, swooped down from his concealed place as a guard for the Hokage and raised both hands with a pair of _shobo_ threaded in his fingers.

"Raiden!" Tsunade shouted at the masked ninja.

Raiden jumped suddenly as if someone had touched him with a Raiton jutsu. But Kakashi had not seen the ANBU's hands move or the threatened ninja against the wall attempt to retaliate. There was no reason other than Tsunade's sudden interjection for Raiden to jerk backwards and nearly drop his kunai as he shoved it back into the pouch strapped to his thigh. The ANBU kept his mask turned to stare at Raiden even as the man huffed and turned his head away as if to avoid the scrutiny.

"Why are you threatening Aburame-san?" demanded Tsunade.

Raiden only shrugged.

"Because I don't like him," he answered in a light tone.

But Kakashi heard the tightness in Raiden's voice and doubted. Tsunade, whether she heard Raiden's tension or not, glared at the _nuke-nin_ coldly.

"If you cause harm to my village—"

"Don't worry." Raiden waved a hand lazily through the air in a gesture that almost looked familiar to Kakashi. "I'm pretty sure you can still beat me into the ground."

Raiden spun on his heel and marched down the hall and out of the Tower. Tsunade stared after him for a moment, grinding her teeth, before she turned and retreated back into her office. The shinobi who had been pinned to the wall raised a hand carefully to his throat to check for open wounds. Kakashi saw him bow his head slightly as Danzo passed by, limping down the hall. Shikaku hummed thoughtfully as he stepped up to stand beside Kakashi.

"He's met Godaime in battle before, then," noted Shikaku.

"_Maa_, what makes you say that?" Kakashi glanced at the man beside him.

"He said 'still.'"

Suddenly, the ANBU with the hooked mask appeared in front of Kakashi without any movement to suggest he had jogged to his current position. The _shobo_ had slipped back into the ANBU's thin holsters on either of his thighs, and the mask showed nothing but professionalism.

"Hatake-san, will you please find Shikamaru and meet me at the Memorial Stone in one hour?" asked the ANBU in a very quiet voice.

"_Eh?_"

Kakashi almost frowned at the ANBU's strange request. He wasn't unknown in the ANBU forces, even so long after he had served in their ranks. But he had been a _jounin-sensei_ longer now than he had ever been in ANBU. Their ranks were made up now by shinobi much younger than he was.

"Concerning a conversation on the hospital roof yesterday," clarified the ANBU.

Kakashi's left eye widened in sudden realization. He hadn't recognized the ANBU before him, but there was only one person who had been present for Shikamaru's presentation of his theory who was also in ANBU.

"You saw him?" Kakashi had to concentrate to make his voice only mildly interested instead of demanding.

"_Hai_."

Kakashi couldn't keep his gaze from darting down the hall, as if he would see Raiden—_Naruto_—standing right there in all his wildly unpredictable glory. But then he turned back to the polite ANBU standing at attention.

"Very well," Kakashi sighed resignedly for the sake of his audience.

"Please do not be late," said the ANBU shortly.

A moment later, the masked figure disappeared in a flicker, back to his hidden post as a guard. Kakashi shoved one hand in his pocket and felt the paper edges of his book, but he couldn't bring himself to pull it out again.

"Why do I get the feeling life is about to get more troublesome for my son?" Shikaku murmured in Kakashi's ear.

Kakashi lifted one eyebrow in a curious gaze toward his comrade. It wouldn't necessarily be a bad thing if Shikaku discovered Raiden's secret; perhaps Shikamaru had already shared his theory with his father. But Kakashi wasn't about to let more information slip until he was sure of the particulars. Especially why Naruto continued to hide himself.

"I wonder if you could tell me where I would find your son, Shikaku-san," postulated Kakashi.

Shikaku shrugged.

"If he's not still at home, he'll be at Chouza's," he replied. "The boy didn't have anything to do today."

Kakashi nodded just enough to be polite and then strolled slowly out of the Hokage Tower. His gut instinct was screaming at him to track down Raiden and pull the stupid mask off his face. But Shikamaru had been right; there was more to this than a simple deception. Kakashi knew better than almost anyone the lengths Naruto was willing to go to for his friends. His death had driven Akatsuki away from Konoha and ensured they had no reason to return. But then Akatsuki had been destroyed. So, why had Naruto stayed away?

Perhaps it had something to do with this new war. Raiden _was_ known as an enemy of Orochimaru, and Raiden had come to join in the war with Konoha. Then there was his attitude only shortly before in the Council room. Kakashi had a hard time picturing Naruto as that bloodthirsty, but then he remembered an evil, tainted chakra and the damage it could do to its bearer. He hoped he wouldn't have the chance to look his student in the eye after four long years only to meet a slitted, crimson gaze.

But Naruto couldn't be completely under Kyuubi's influence. He had kids, students, that he cared about. Kakashi smiled broadly under his mask, thinking of circles and cycles. His student had become a _sensei_. And a good one, if the loyalty his students showed him was any indication.

**o0O0o**

Kaito woke up with his back pressed to Mako's back on the futon they shared. Blinking his eyes blearily, he wondered for a moment why he was awake. The sky visible in the window still held the bright crispness of morning light. Then, he heard the voices from inside the house. Someone was yelling as quietly as he could, so that Kaito could only hear the growling tones of _sensei_ that made him sound more like an angry animal than a person.

Nervously, Kaito glanced at Mako's still-sleeping form then pushed the covers off his body with a hard shove. Barefoot and clad in the loose shirt and shorts he kept for sleeping, the boy padded out of the room and down the hall toward the kitchen of Uchiha's house. The voices became clearer as he knelt in front of the _fusuma _and pushed it open a crack to peer out.

"I don't have to tell you anything, _teme_," _sensei_'s voice growled quietly.

_Sensei_ was dressed in his red coat and the bandanna that covered his head. His red and white mask and weapons holster both lay on the low dining table. He was kneeling next to his cloth bag while his giant scroll rested against the war. Uchiha stood in the living room, glowering at _sensei_'s back. The dark man was missing his _hitai-ate_ and the green vest Kaito normally saw on the man.

"What happened that was so bad you had to come straight here?" Uchiha demanded.

Kaito stared hard at his _sensei_. Had something happened? _Sensei_ looked serious, like his face was made of stone, as he shoved something into his cloth bag.

"Even the Hokage didn't know where you went," continued Uchiha.

"Well, I don't answer to the Hokage, do I?"

If _sensei_ had spoken to Kaito in that tone, Kaito knew he would have sped his way to his bed and hid there until _sensei_ wasn't so mad. But Uchiha didn't seem to care about _sensei_'s anger. _Sensei_ stood up quickly and turned to the table. Uchiha's black eyes followed him the whole way.

"What happened?" Uchiha asked again.

"Shut up," _sensei _threw back as he picked up his holster and tied it around his thigh where it belonged.

Uchiha turned so that his eyes bore into _sensei_'s back. Kaito shrank further to the floor with his face pressed to the crack between the door and the wall, hoping that neither of the men in the room saw him.

"I will not allow you to harm anyone in Konoha," announced Uchiha.

"_You_ won't?"

_Sensei_ spun around with his hands in fists and his face livid. Kaito held his breath, as if that would help him remain undetected.

"Since when do you care about _anyone_ in your stupid village!" snapped the gray-eyed man. "You left them for a snake, and after you sucked him dry of all you wanted you killed him, too."

Kaito heard a creak behind him and quickly spun his head around, afraid of being caught. But it was only Mako standing in the hall, dressed similarly to Kaito in sleeping clothes. Mako looked more curious than terrified, like Kaito knew he was. _Sensei_ only got that mad at his enemies. Before Mako could do anything, Kaito pursed his lips and pressed his index finger to the 'O' his mouth made in a silent bid for quiet. Mako padded over to stand behind Kaito's crouched form and peer out the cracked _fusuma_.

"You don't know—"

"The _hell_ I don't!" interrupted _sensei_. "You betrayed your friends on a _whim_, because you were a damn selfish brat and you thought betraying a living family for a dead one was a good idea."

Uchiha suddenly launched himself at _sensei_ with an ugly look of hatred on his face. Kaito gasped, but Mako laid a hand on his shoulder to keep his friend from moving. Kaito could only watch as the two men fell to the floor in what looked more like a wrestling match than a battle between shinobi.

Uchiha caught _sensei_ in the mouth with his fist, and _sensei_ returned the blow, clocking the Uchiha's cheekbone. Uchiha captured _sensei_'s fists and held him down while glaring at the lighter man's face. _Sensei_ grit his teeth and jerked his head up abruptly, knocking his forehead so hard against Uchiha's that Kaito could hear their skulls crack together.

Uchiha drew back with a groan, and _sensei_ quickly escaped his grip to stand up.

"Did that wake you up?" _sensei_ demanded as he stood over Uchiha.

Uchiha pushed himself to his feet and turned back to _sensei_ with a glare that was slightly cross-eyed.

"You don't know anything," he growled.

"Whatever," sighed _sensei_. All the anger seemed to leave his face at once as he walked around Uchiha. "You want me gone so badly, you got it."

Kaito felt Mako lean forward so that his chest almost pressed into Kaito's back.

"What?" Uchiha looked confused, although Kaito thought that might have been because of _sensei_. The man always said that he had a very hard head.

"I'm leaving, dumbass." _Sensei_ bent down to sling the large scroll over his shoulder and settled it on his back.

Kaito tried to glance up at Mako, to see if Mako was as worried about that simple statement as Kaito. But Mako continued to stare through the paper door to the living area. Why was _sensei_ leaving? And this wasn't like his short trip to Kumo, like he said he was going to do. _Sensei_ wouldn't take his _kage_ scroll unless something bad was going to happen.

"You signed a contract—" Uchiha began to protest.

"Yeah, to kill _hebi-teme_." _Sensei_ laughed without really laughing.

Kaito's fist clenched at the mention of the man who had ruined his life once already. He knew that _sensei_ had to kill Orochimaru, and he knew how strong _sensei_ could be. Somehow that didn't keep him from worrying about the man.

"That's where I'm going," announced _sensei_. He picked up his cloth pack and slipped his arms into the straps as he gave Uchiha a sardonic smile. "Think I'll take a page from your book, Uchiha. Kill the snake and just go my own way."

_Sensei_ walked deliberately past Uchiha again toward the low table while Uchiha kept his eyes on the man's form.

"Without your students?"

The two boys listening intently to the conversation both froze up. Kaito stopped breathing as he leaned forward to hear _sensei_'s response. Surely, the man who had always been so dedicated to his kids wouldn't just leave them—

"They're wards of Konoha now," muttered the man. "I don't need them along."

Kaito felt a knife pierce his chest directly where his heart was. His eyes burned, but he forced the prickle to remain at the back of his eyes. _Sensei_ picked up his mask with his face almost as blank as the red and white one that stared back at him.

"So, you're severing your bonds with them?" Uchiha demanded as he folded his arms across his chest.

_Sensei_ turned his head to glance over his shoulder at the dark man.

"Yeah," he said, and his voice sounded tired. "You'd know all about that, wouldn't you, Sasuke-_teme_?"

With hands that were strong enough to carry Kaito around when he was too weak to do anything, _sensei_ secured the blank mask on his face before he turned to face Uchiha as Raiden and not anything else.

"Bye," the masked man called out in a sing-song voice.

_Sensei_ spun on his heel and marched out the door of the house without another word. Uchiha stared after him with a glower that threatened to burn through the door. Suddenly, Kaito felt a hand grab his arm and pull him backwards.

"What are you doing?" he hissed at Mako as his friend continued to drag him down the hall and back into the room they shared.

Mako dropped Kaito's arm as soon as they were in their room and rushed for the small packs that held both of their meager belongings.

"_Sensei_'s lying," Mako growled.

"What?" Kaito frowned as he watched Mako dump out his pack onto the floor.

"He wouldn't leave us behind." Mako began rifling through his clothes and tossing them on the futon. He scooped up some loose shiruken on the floor and stuffed them in the bottom of his pack. "He'd never do that. Something bad happened."

Kaito shook his head vaguely, still watching as Mako snatched a pair of pants and pulled them on. The light-haired boy's frown was somewhat negated by the fact that he had started hopping on one foot in order to clothe himself in a hurry.

"You heard Uchiha-_teme_," Mako snapped. "He said Naruto-_sensei_ came here because something bad happened."

"Shush," Kaito hissed and glanced over his shoulder. When no one appeared in the hallway who could have overheard _sensei_'s name he turned back to his friend.

Mako had grabbed a thin metal plate fastened to a long cloth and raised it to his forehead. Kaito nearly frowned at the Konoha _hitai-ate_. Mako was so proud to be an official ninja, and Kaito knew that _sensei_ loved his true home. But Kaito didn't know if he wanted to pledge his loyalty yet to anyone other than _sensei_.

"What are you doing?" he demanded.

"I'm going with _sensei_," Mako announced as if it should have been obvious.

Kaito watched Mako tie his _hitai-ate_ for a moment.

"You can't help him kill _hebi-teme_," he felt compelled to remind the boy.

Even though Mako was better than Kaito at most ninjutsu, he was nowhere near _sensei_'s level. Kaito couldn't imagine that _sensei_ would need help from his kids on this kind of mission. Mako huffed and balled his fists on his hips.

"I'm a genin now." He tapped the metal plate on his forehead with his thumb. "And _sensei's _probably going to do something dumb like _Kage Tensei_. I'm going to protect him."

Mako had a point, Kaito had to admit. _Sensei_ did stupid things sometimes, depleting his strength and his chakra all in the name of winning or, more commonly, protecting. Kaito knew what _Kage Tensei_ did to his _sensei_ and how bad _Kamikaze_ affected his body even when he was the only one who could survive it. As Mako shoved a first aid kit that was mostly bandages in his pack, Kaito stepped forward and picked up his own pack.

"I'm coming with," he said.

Mako stopped packing and stared at Kaito.

"Why?" he asked with genuine curiosity. "You don't have to."

"Yes, I do." Kaito didn't look at Mako as he wondered how best to say that it wasn't _sensei_ he was really worried about. "You're an idiot."

As much as he knew Mako was better at ninjutsu, Kaito was better at taijutsu. And Mako had the disadvantage of thinking like _sensei_ had once said he used to. Jumping in hotheaded without really looking. Mako didn't seem to be bothered by the familiar insult.

"I'm a fool," Mako corrected, grinning.

"That, too," Kaito admitted with a small smile.

They packed quickly, dressing even faster. Kaito picked up his pack in the quiet house and turned to the older boy.

"What about Mei?" he asked.

"Sakura-chan will take care of her," Mako assured him, shouldering his own pack. "_Sensei_ likes her."

Kaito knew that was true. He had seen the way _sensei_ looked at Sakura-san sometimes. He knew _sensei_ cared about her. Kaito poked his head out the door of their room and peered down the hall toward the living area. He could still hear Uchiha-_teme_ shuffling around.

"We'll have to sneak out." Kaito turned back over his shoulder to look at Mako.

"Yeah," Mako agreed as he pushed his way past Kaito. "Come on."

Together they padded to the next room, where Mei was still sleeping on the futon. The woman she insisted on calling a princess, Sakura, had left already for the hospital where she worked, leaving Mei alone in the folds of blankets that covered her. Mako knelt down beside the futon and shook Mei by the shoulder.

"_Mei mei_," the boy called.

At first, Mei only turned away from the call and snuggled further into the futon. When Mako shook her even harder, Kaito began to worry that Uchiha would hear the commotion and come to check on what the three kids were doing. But Uchiha never showed up, and Mei finally sat up, rubbing her eyes.

"Mako-kun?" she yawned curiously. "What's going on?"

_ "Sensei_'s in trouble, so Kaito and I are going to help him." Mako wasted no time with his explanation.

Amazingly, Mei suddenly perked up and looked more awake than Kaito could ever remember seeing her so soon after she had woken up.

_ "Sensei_'s in trouble?" she gasped with wide eyes.

She glanced over both boys, taking in their packs and their holsters and the _hitai-ate_ on Mako's head. Then, Mei shoved the blankets off her body and rose to her knees.

"I want to come, too," she declared.

"No." Mako placed one hand on Mei's shoulder and forced her to sit back down. "You stay here with Sakura-chan. She'll take care of you."

Mei's pleading eyes turned to Kaito.

"But, what about _sensei_?"

She wasn't faking it, although Kaito was pretty sure Mei had used those eyes on _sensei_ a time or two just to get her way. But this time, Mei was just as concerned as Mako was that _sensei_ might really be in trouble. Their worry sat heavily in Kaito's stomach. _Sensei _was strong, he reminded himself as he patted Mei on the shoulder awkwardly.

"We'll take care of _sensei_, Mei-chan," he reassured her softly. "Don't worry."

"It's okay, _mei mei_," Mako joined in with his own nickname for the girl. "If you get scared, just tell Sakura-chan that you know _sensei_'s name."

"But that's a secret." Mei started biting her bottom lip.

Kaito grimaced briefly. _Sensei_'s name was _supposed_ to be a secret, but Kaito didn't know how much it mattered anymore. While he believed that _sensei_ could take on anyone, even _hebi-teme_, and be okay, there was still something wrong. _Sensei _had been really angry when he was fighting with Uchiha, and he only got that angry when he was fighting an enemy. Or when he got a letter that he never let the kids know about. _Sensei_ might not be in danger, but he _was_ in trouble. Kaito rubbed his hand along Mei's arm.

"It's okay," he whispered. "Sakura-chan is a princess, isn't she?"

Maybe Mako was right, and maybe they should have told _sensei_ that they knew what his name was. Maybe _sensei_ could use some help from his old friends. As much as Kaito wanted to hate them for abandoning _sensei_—even if _sensei_ always said that it was his fault, or his choice, depending on his mood—he saw how much _sensei_ cared for the people in the village. Especially the people who lived in Uchiha's house.

Mei looked at the hands clasped together and resting in her lap. She was very fond of Sakura, and she kept on believing that the lady was really the princess in all of _sensei_'s stories. Kaito wondered if _sensei_ loved Sakura.

"Yeah," Mei said quietly.

Mako stood up and grinned down at the girl.

"We'll be back, Mei-chan," he announced confidently. "Promise of a lifetime."

Kaito nodded at Mei as he stood up next to his friend. Mei nodded once, but her eyes told him that she would hold them to that promise. Kaito followed Mako out the window of the house and down to the grass outside. As he and Mako slipped from the large Uchiha District, up the large wall that surrounded the village, and into the forest beyond, Kaito knew he would have to return to Konoha now. No matter what happened. A ninja never went back on his word.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru blew out a stream of smoke from his pursed lips, not bothering to turn his head away from the other two men who stood with him in the graveyard.

"Are you sure?" he demanded.

Hyuuga Neji stood to Shikamaru's right side with his hooked, bird-like ANBU mask in one gloved hand. His fine eyebrows came to a point in the middle of his forehead.

"Yes, I am sure," he said shortly. "His _keirakukei_ are identical to Naruto's."

"How did he escape Kiba's nose?" interjected Kakashi in a tone that was more curious than demanding.

"Kiba was always complaining that everything smelled like mud in Ame no Kuni," Shikamaru answered. "And after Raiden broke off from the rest of us to go to his mountain, he returned smelling like oil."

Shikamaru hadn't figured that one out quite yet. Neither where Naruto could have gone while keeping a _kage bunshin _with Sakura and the kids nor how he had come back smelling like oil. Kiba hadn't been near Raiden since, so Shikamaru didn't know if the scent had worn off. Possibly, the oil had just been something Naruto had smeared on himself to bury his scent where Kiba couldn't find it.

"Perhaps as part of whatever jutsu he is using to hide his face."

Kakashi's theory interrupted Shikamaru's own postulating, but he had to admit it was a possibility as well. But it wasn't the most important thing. There was still one major question bothering Shikamaru.

"I still don't know why he stayed away from Konoha," he admitted to Neji and Kakashi. "Or why he returned."

It was just the three of them standing in the Memorial Field. Lee was out of town on a mission with his genin team, and Shikamaru didn't want to involve Sakura yet. Neji and Kakashi had keen enough minds, and both were in positions to know more than Sakura. As ANBU, Neji had certain privileges that other ninja could not have, and Kakashi knew the politics of Konoha better than anyone Shikamaru knew, short of his own father. Kakashi's uncovered eye drifted to the large ornate stone behind Shikamaru.

"Naruto would do anything to protect those he considers precious to him," Kakashi murmured softly.

Shikamaru wondered if the man was staring at his student's name on the stone. Shikamaru knew of Kakashi's habit of visiting the Memorial for hours on end only because he had once met the man while visiting Asuma's grave. But Shikamaru's mind was still focused on problem-solving and not on his losses.

"But Akatsuki is dead and gone," he protested. "If he stayed away to keep them from attacking Konoha, why wouldn't he return when the threat was gone?"

Kakashi didn't answer immediately, keeping his gaze on the stone instead.

"Perhaps because the threat is not gone yet," Neji suggested into the silence.

Shikamaru's eyes flew to Neji as he replaced his cigarette between his lips again.

"When Uchiha returned with his team this morning, he did so without Raiden," Neji announced.

"But he was at the Council meeting this morning." Kakashi's head came up to regard the two younger men.

"Yes." Neji nodded once, shortly. "Uchiha said that Raiden had returned to Konoha ahead of the others because one of his seals went off."

Shikamaru raised an eyebrow in Kakashi's direction at the mention of seals. Perhaps Naruto had become better acquainted with _fuuinjutsu_ after the seal Shikamaru had discovered made his initial deception possible.

"He could tell something was wrong in Konoha," Neji finished.

"So the threat is inside the village?" Shikamaru translated Neji's words thoughtfully.

The three men stood in silence for a moment. Shikamaru was too busy calculating what internal foes Konoha could be hiding to wonder about the others' thoughts.

"Raiden announced at the Council meeting that he is going to kill Orochimaru," Kakashi said suddenly.

Shikamaru's head jerked up as he exhaled smoke around the fag in his mouth.

"Now?" he asked worriedly.

If Naruto was planning on doing something rash before Shikamaru could put all the pieces together, he feared he would lose his chance to help his friend. Maybe whatever had pulled Raiden back to Konoha was serious enough for Naruto to consider going into hiding once again.

"He said an Oto spy told him where Orochimaru's hideout was," explained Kakashi. "And he wants to go alone."

Kakashi's tone was heavy with meaning. His right eye traveled up to look at Shikamaru without his usual apathy.

"He mentioned _Kamikaze."_

Shikamaru nearly bit down on his cigarette. He pinched the roll of paper between his fingers and drew in a deep breath, feeling the smoke fill his lungs. He remembered Raiden's face, lit by only a small campfire in the forests of Hi no Kuni, as he refused to tell his new allies anything about a bloodthirsty jutsu named for the will of the gods. Shikamaru blew out the smoke in his lungs in a steady stream.

"I have a bad feeling about that jutsu," he muttered.

He saw Kakashi's eye grow dark with apprehension while Neji withdrew into himself in a way Shikamaru recognized from his genin days.

"We need to convince Hokage-sama to send a team after him," announced Shikamaru.

Kakashi's eye widened from apprehension to surprise, and Neji pinned Shikamaru with a gaze that hardly needed the Byagakun to be considered one of the most observant in ANBU. Shikamaru scowled at their perusal.

"I won't let him face another opponent alone," he growled. "No matter how strong he's become."

Neji's gaze hardened.

"Nor I," agreed the Hyuuga.

Kakashi nodded slowly and slipped his hands into the pockets of his pants.

"All right," he said carefully. "Will we tell Tsunade-sama Raiden's identity?"

"Not yet." Shikamaru frowned in the general direction of the clouds above him. "If the threat is within Konoha, we don't know where it has ears or eyes."

Already Shikamaru's mind was forming theories. There had always been those who wished to undermine the Hokage for whatever reason. Orochimaru had once wanted the position—he had only heard the rumors of attempted sabotage years after he had made jounin—and Shikamaru knew from his father that Danzo had done more than his fair share of building spies and secrets behind the backs of both Sandaime and Godaime.

Shikamaru's eyes caught sight of a cloud that swirled in on itself like a spiral that had been squished flat. He stared up at the cloud as the high winds pushed it swiftly across the sky, and Shikamaru thought of ramen, of maelstroms, and of a boy who had once sworn with Shikamaru to become kick-ass ninja like their _sensei_ were. The wind pushed the cloud past Shikamaru's gaze, shifting into a new shape as he returned his gaze to Neji and Kakashi.

"Well?" Neji raised his eyebrows expectantly.

"I have a plan," Shikamaru declared.

**o0O0o**

Naruto tugged on the bandanna that covered his head as he approached the wide open gates of Konoha. He already hated himself for what he had said to Sasuke. Naruto always tried not to hate anyone; it usually cost too much effort he could just as easily expend elsewhere, like in training or teaching his kids.

Danzo, he considered an exception. The man had no redeeming qualities, no feelings that Naruto could relate to. Even Pein, Nagato, was trying to make his friend's dream come true the only way he knew how. It was because Naruto understood that dream that he could finally talk to Nagato in their battle in Amegakure. It was then that Nagato passed his dream on to Naruto and given the last of his energy to escape with the only friend he had left, Konan.

Only after that had Naruto's life become a mask instead of his planned journey to the top of the shinobi hierarchy.

Now, Danzo was _demanding_ that Naruto dispose of Orochimaru or there would be consequences. It wasn't even so much the assassination demand that bothered Naruto. He'd gladly kill the snake. He just hated that Danzo was letting the threat of Naruto's kids' wellbeing hang over his head, as if Naruto needed to be kept in line. That, Naruto hated. He would never do anything that would help Orochimaru instead of Konoha and he would _never_ let anyone hurt his kids.

Maybe that was why Sasuke's accusation hurt so much. Naruto _wasn't_ a traitor. He wasn't even a _nuke-nin_. And now Sasuke thought he had to defend his village from _Naruto_. Naruto couldn't even find it ironic because he was so jealous of Sasuke. At least Sasuke could honestly defend his home. Naruto smiled slightly in the general direction of his toes. From the vehemence of Sasuke's argument, Naruto supposed that his friends finally found something to protect.

Naruto strode to the gate, not bothering to meet the eyes of the chuunin on duty. He shrugged the heavy strap on his shoulder into a more comfortable position. Normally, he would have left his _kage _scroll behind when he went on a mission, but there was a chance that he wouldn't be returning to Konoha after this particular mission. He had considered faking his own death again, letting Konoha and everyone else believe that _Kamikaze_ was a suicide jutsu and that he had given his life in order to kill Orochimaru for good. He might have followed through on that plan, too, if he didn't already know that Danzo was aware of his escaping-death-trick.

"Leaving already, Raiden?"

Naruto glanced at the wall of Konoha, where Yamanaka Fuu slouched against the open wooden door that protected the village. Behind the mask he wore, Naruto's lips curled into a sneer at the man. He almost preferred Sai as an example of Danzo's lackeys. These new ones were far too easy with their threats, and Naruto had already had to take the Aburame to task for suggesting he would make a good _sensei_ in Naruto's absence.

Fuu smiled widely as he pushed himself off the wooden gate and approached Raiden with an easy gait.

"I just wanted to wish you good luck," commented the ROOT-nin. "I am sure you will return victorious."

Naruto refused to look at the Yamanaka's wide grin. He was sure if he did, he would end up punching the man right in the face. Naruto kept walking out of the village and leapt into the trees as soon as he was able, heading for the north. Why did all his worst memories always converge in so few spots? If it wasn't within Konoha, it had to be the very place he was going. A river and a waterfall he hadn't revisited since he was thirteen and trying to stop his best friend from making a huge mistake.

**o0O0o**

Sakura marched up the path to Sasuke's new house, where she had been staying for the past few days. She had had an early shift at the hospital that she couldn't get out of, and now she had to wake Kaito to bring him to his regular appointment. She thought they were actually getting somewhere with the curse seal. All that they needed to do was have Raiden remove his own barrier so that she and Kakashi could access the curse seal beneath it. Raiden and Sasuke were expected back from their mission to Kumo sometime today, and Sakura hoped that Kaito could put all of Orochimaru's' influence behind him soon. He was a nice boy, if a bit reserved. A bit of him reminded Sakura of Sasuke as a genin, just a bit.

As Sakura opened the door to the house, the first thing she saw was Sasuke, fully dressed in his jounin uniform and sheathing his _kodachi_ in its _saya_. He had a prominent bruise just under his left eye. Mei was standing next to the _fusuma_ that led down the hallway to the bedrooms, glaring at Sasuke as fiercely as a young girl easily intimidated could glare.

"Sasuke?" Sakura called in surprise. "Are you back already?"

Sasuke's only response was to glower at Sakura frostily. Fortunately, Sakura had enough practice in deflecting death glares not to be affected. She turned to the girl instead.

"Mei-chan, could you wake up Kaito-kun?" she asked gently.

Mei faced suddenly transformed from an impudent glare to a wide-eyed look of fear. She shook her head slowly, scared almost. Sakura flinched at the look. Her temper only came out nowadays when confronted with very disobedient patients, and she didn't think Mei had ever seen it.

"Kaito _has_ to go to the hospital today," Sakura coaxed the girl. "So we can remove Orochimaru's seal on him."

"They're gone," snapped Sasuke.

Sakura glanced at him again, slightly surprised at the vehemence of his statement. Then, she realized that Sasuke wasn't shedding his official position after returning from a mission. He had strapped the _kodachi_ to his back and still had his holster attached to his thigh. He was gearing up to leave again. He may have been intending to train, but Sakura suspected that he had another mission. She ignored her intense friend and turned to the girl again.

"Where did they go, Mei-chan?" Sakura demanded with her fists planted on her hips.

The girl in front of her raised her shoulders in a twist that said she _really_ didn't want to say anything, but she _really_ didn't want to get in trouble, either. Mei started to chew on her bottom lip worriedly.

"Mei-chan . . ."

"They went to help _sensei_," Mei blurted suddenly.

Sakura frowned down at the girl.

"To help Raiden?" she repeated. "In Kumo?"

"No." Mei shook her head emphatically. "_Sensei's _in trouble. They had to go help him."

Sakura shifted her attention back to Sasuke.

"Where is he?" she asked.

"He left." Sasuke pulled on the wrist guards that held hundreds of his shiruken. "I'm going after him."

Sakura stared as Sasuke stomped out the door, carrying with nothing but his weapons. Despite knowing how terse Sasuke could be, she didn't particularly like the situation as Sasuke had described it. First of all, if Raiden wasn't with the team he had left with, then why was he in trouble? Or was that the reason for his trouble? And even if Raiden _was_ in trouble, due to his apparent disregard for his current mission, how could Kaito and Mako help him?

"He ran away?" Sakura wondered out loud.

It wasn't unheard of for a _nuke-nin_ to break a contract or betray his initial employer. Sakura didn't know why she was so surprised that Raiden had walked out on his promise.

"_Sensei_ never runs away!" Mei stomped her bare foot on the floor. "_Sensei_ never goes back on his word! He loves this place, Sakura-_hime_."

Sakura stared at the girl.

"Why?"

Why would a missing nin love a place like Konoha? Konoha was only seen as a powerful stronghold because they produced powerful ninjas. Most of the countries had a hard time reconciling the powerhouses with the strange philosophy that Konoha practiced: loyalty and comrades above even a mission's completion.

"This is _sensei's _home," explained Mei quietly. She bit on her lip again and then looked up at the young woman with wide eyes. "This is where his princess is."

Sakura looked back at the girl with wide eyes.

"Princess?" she repeated.

Mei nodded, her eyes absolutely hopeful.

"You said he always asked you on dates, Sakura-_hime_."

Sakura felt her heart stop for a moment, and she had to lick her lips twice before she could speak again.

"Who asked me?" she managed to croak out.

Mei leaned forward and cupped one hand around her mouth as if she were sharing a great secret.

"Naruto-_sensei_."

"Naruto?" Sakura breathed. "Raiden . . . is _Naruto_?"

In front of the shocked woman, Mei only nodded sympathetically.

"He said his name was a secret, but you had a picture of him," protested Mei. "He was part of your team with Uchiha-san and the scarecrow-_sensei_."

"Raiden is Naruto," Sakura said again.

He smiled just like Naruto. He pestered Sasuke just like Naruto. He even pulled _pranks_ just like Naruto. He had said he was twenty, the same age Naruto would have been. Sakura's eyes sharpened as she looked down at the girl in front of her.

"You said he's in trouble," she confirmed as if just realizing the words that had been said.

Mei chewed on her bottom lip and nodded hesitantly. Sakura grabbed the girl's hand and practically dragged her to the door.

"Come on," she commanded breathlessly. "We have to see Tsunade-sama."

**o0O0o**

Sasuke marched his way down the road to Konoha's gates. He had a suspicion that if he took the more common, 'fastest' route—jumping across the rooftops of the village—he would stomp a hole right through someone's ceiling. All the while he continued for the edge of Konoha, Raiden's words echoed in his ears.

_"Did that wake you up?"_

Sasuke hated Raiden, partially for reminding him of all his greatest failings but especially because Raiden had a way of shredding Sasuke's composure. He had been called a traitor by the majority of the village's population, both civilian and shinobi, and affected only his ice-cold mask. With Raiden, Sasuke reverted to a hot-blooded kid he hadn't been since he was twelve, staring down at his best friend.

_"Did that wake you up?"_

Sasuke snarled at the gate guard as he passed, using all his hatred for intimidation rather than losing himself in physical activity. The chuunin standing at the large wooden doors of Konoha cowered and returned his eyes to the magazine sitting at his desk. Satisfied that no one would stop him, Sasuke stepped out onto the dirt road that led to the south and turned to his right, intending to jump into the trees for a more direct route.

"Where're you goin', Uchiha?" interjected a loud voice.

Sasuke turned around abruptly to see Inuzuka Kiba lazing on the road just outside of the Konoha gates. Akamaru had settled down on his stomach and was taking most of Kiba's weight as the young man leaned on the back of his _ninken_. Kiba's eyes narrowed at Sasuke then lightened suddenly as Kiba smirked in sheer amusement.

"Nice shiner," he complimented.

Sasuke clenched his hand tightly to keep himself from brushing at the bruised skin just under his left eye. Another reason he hated Raiden. If anyone else had started a brawl with the last Uchiha, Sasuke would have casually activated his _doujutsu_ and taken them down without a second thought. Instead, Sasuke had succumbed to a wrestling match on his own floor; and lost.

"Shut up, Inuzuka," he growled and turned away from his comrade.

"You're not allowed to leave the village without a mission scroll from the Hokage, remember?" Kiba called at his back.

"What are you, my guard dog?" Sasuke snapped back.

He could usually get Kiba riled up by insinuating that he was more attuned to his _ninken_ than his fellow humans, and Kiba had a tendency to make mistakes when he was hotheaded. But the man only huffed as he rose to his feet.

"For your information, Akamaru and I have a mission."

Sasuke spun on his heel to face Kiba with a look of absolute derision.

"The Hokage must have needed a mutt," he noted blandly.

True to his prediction, Kiba snarled and bent low to the ground in order to properly jump at Sasuke. Sasuke tensed all the muscles in his legs, preparing to leap into the forest and leave the Inuzuka well behind.

"Kiba!"

The sudden shout made both Kiba and Sasuke turn to face the gates. Sasuke saw Kakashi, Shikamaru, and Hyuuga Neji—who was dressed in a large, loose shirt and pants instead of his usual ANBU uniform—walking calmly out of the village and silently cursed Kiba backwards and forwards for preventing a quick getaway.

"Sasuke, what are you doing?" Kakashi was the first to ask.

"I'm going after Raiden," Sasuke declared bluntly, daring any one of them to stop him. "He's going to—"

"To kill Orochimaru," interrupted Neji with a most disapproving frown. "We know."

"We're his back-up," Shikamaru elaborated while he handed a short mission scroll to Kiba.

Kiba stared at the scroll in his hand briefly before he turned his disbelief onto Shikamaru.

"Back-up?" he repeated. "For that guy? _That's_ the mission?"

"To make sure he returns to Konoha," announced Neji in a voice that betrayed nothing.

Sasuke glared at the Hyuuga.

"I'm not going to escort him back," Sasuke snapped. "I'll make sure he kills his target and goes his own way."

The faster Raiden removed himself from Sasuke's life, the better. Neji spared the time to pull his eyebrows into a disapproving frown as he stared back at the Uchiha.

"You will not."

"We're wasting time," Shikamaru declared before the two _doujutsu_ heirs could start a fight. "Raiden is already on his way."

Sasuke barely had time to register the unlikely event of Shikamaru hurrying his team along before Kiba directed another snarl at him.

"Yeah, see ya later, Uchiha," growled Kiba with a taunting grin full of teeth.

"Sasuke will come with us," declared Kakashi.

"What?"

Kiba's reaction was immediate and loud, although he wasn't the only one whose head snapped to pin Kakashi with a demanding look. Neji had transferred his gaze to the older jounin with a puzzlement that clearly stated Kakashi had lost his mind somewhere on the road of life. Kakashi ignored both of these looks and turned to Shikamaru, who hadn't moved.

"He might be able to convince him to talk," he noted to the silent jounin.

Shikamaru heaved a great sigh that made Sasuke think his next words would be something involving 'troublesome.' Shikamaru shoved one hand into his the pack on his back and brought out a bundle of cloth.

"Kiba, follow this." Shikamaru tossed the ninja the dark-colored shirt.

"Where'd you get that?" asked Kakashi curiously.

"Snuck into Uchiha's house." Shikamaru seemed to have no qualms in admitting to his guilt in front of Sasuke. "I'm lucky I missed Sakura."

"I got his scent," Kiba suddenly announced with a frown.

"Right," Shikamaru declared. "Let's go."

Kiba frowned at the shirt in his hand for a moment before he tossed it back to Shikamaru and then mounted the large white dog beside him the way one would a horse. With an almighty leap, Akamaru was off into the forest, and Neji, Shikamaru, and Kakashi followed in a series of flickers.

Sasuke frowned but followed anyway. If Kakashi wanted him along, then he could get away with leaving Konoha on a mission without the Council or the Hokage demanding his every move be regulated. As long as his so-called teammates understood that he wanted Raiden gone as soon as his task was finished. He wanted things to return to normal, without the ghost of his once-best-friend-and-almost-brother haunting him every time a missing nin showed up knowing more than he should.

* * *

A/N: Hello, all my lovely readers!

Yes, I am back after a month's hiatus. Thank you to everyone who wished me well in November. The NaNoWriMo went extremely well. I think it's my new favorite thing to participate in (yes, even trumping fanfiction).

I had a few guesses as to the identity of the man in the graveyard, and now we actually get to see him. Evil, evil Danzo.

Not much else to say other than I'm looking forward to next chapter. Hopefully you guys are, too.

Sincerely,

Fia

_keirakukei – _Chakra Pathway Network, pretty much the stream of chakra within a person's body (just in case you had forgotten).

_shobo_ – A weapon made out of a stick of wood with a ring worn on the middle finger. The ends were sharpened and used for striking pressure points on opponents. Hyuuga aren't exactly known for being weapons masters, but I finally found something I thought would suit Neji well, him being a cautious guy and all.


	11. In Which He Dies Again

Chapter 10: In Which He Dies . . . Again

"_Show me a hero, and I will write you a tragedy."_

~ F. Scott Fitzgerald

**o0O0o**

Kiba jumped to the next branch and landed heavily on his feet. Raiden's scent was still heavy in his nose, a mixture of the oil Genkei had always reeked of and the scent Kiba had barely caught from the man just once—like cold rain on green leaves. From his left side, Akamaru whined at his master's volatile mood, but Kiba ignored his partner and instead leaped to Shikamaru's side.

"That shirt you gave me," Kiba began in a low growl, "I've smelled that scent before."

"Yeah," murmured Shikamaru quietly.

He sounded distracted, and Kiba snarled at his squad leader.

"He's dead," he growled.

Naruto had been dead for four years. There was no way Raiden could have the same scent as someone Konoha had already buried. Shikamaru didn't even look at Kiba as he continued to run through the canopy of Hi no Kuni's forest.

"Uzumaki Naruto survived." Shikamaru spoke as if he were merely giving a mission report. "Neji identified his chakra coils."

"He could be a clone," snapped Kiba. "A _henge_!"

"You said you had smelled him before." Shikamaru finally turned to glance sideways at the angry ninja running beside him. "He's Naruto."

Kiba's jaw dropped then shut again just as suddenly as he ground his teeth together. He wanted to shout out denials, to say Shikamaru's genius brain had finally exploded from sheer volume. But Raiden did have Naruto's scent. His grin was wide and genuine, like how Naruto always showed off all his teeth when he was happiest. He had laughed when he heard he was going to be staying with Uchiha-_teme_ and Sakura—laughed like a crazy man. But if he really was Naruto— The only thing Naruto had ever gone crazy over were his friends.

"How?" Kiba gaped.

Shikamaru faced forward once again.

"We'll have to ask him once we help him kill Orochimaru."

Kiba let a growl slip from the back of his throat. He hated Orochimaru. Most of the people in Konoha actually hated Orochimaru, but if Orochimaru was the reason Naruto had become Raiden and stayed away from his friends Kiba would rip the damn snake's head off himself.

Taking a deep breath, Kiba breathed in the smells of the forest and, past that, the scent that reminded him of rainstorms and a boy who vowed to die for his friends if it came to that.

"He's heading north," Kiba called over his shoulder as he adjusted his path.

**o0O0o**

"Show me again," Tsunade commanded.

The small, dark-haired girl in front of her trembled nervously, but she obediently put her hands together and concentrated very, very hard.

"_Henge_!" the girl shouted.

Suddenly, in place of a timid ten-year-old girl, a tall blond man stood in front of Tsunade's desk. His hair was longer than she remembered, and his shoulders were stockier. But his face was the same, if not a little thinner. And Naruto would never wear the anxious look that the girl had placed on his face, a mixture of apprehension of punishment and fear of disappointing. But it was Naruto.

Then, Naruto's face grimaced and suddenly disappeared into a cloud of smoke. The burned out chakra faded away to reveal the dark-haired girl again, puffing slightly, with her hands still clasped together. It was obvious she had been trained, but she still had a ways to go before she reached the level either of her childhood friends were at. The girl glanced up at Godaime Hokage nervously, and Tsunade gave her an encouraging smile.

"Thank you very much, Mei," she said. "Shizune will take you outside now."

The girl known as Raiden's youngest student nodded a bit reluctantly before she finally turned to Shizune. Tsuande's apprentice cradled her pet Ton-Ton in one arm as she held out a hand to Mei. The young girl took Shizune's hand with an encouraging smile from Sakura, who had brought Mei to see Tsunade which the most incredible news possible or impossible. When Sakura had asked Mei to transform into a Henge of what her sensei truly looked like, the face of Uzumaki Naruto had been the last thing Tsunade had expected. Once the door was closed behind Mei and Shizune, Tsunade fixed her eyes on Sakura.

"How is this possible?" she demanded.

Sakura shook her head almost violently.

"I don't know," the young woman pleaded. "I should've— Shikamaru had a theory that Raiden was really Naruto, but I didn't believe him. I didn't want to believe him."

Tsunade glowered at nothing in particular. That explained why Shikamaru had been so adamant about sending a team to follow after Raiden to ensure he succeed in his mission. Tsunade had been disinclined to approve the request, but Shikamaru had the support of both Kakashi and Neji, two ninja who were skilled enough to be ranked ANBU if they so choose. Finally, Shikamaru had admitted that he had information that would help Raiden. He wouldn't reveal what his information was, but Tsunade knew enough of how her top strategist thought to know that his "information" was likely a detailed knowledge of either Raiden's attacks or mode of operation, complete with three different methods of counteraction. She had let them go. Only to find out now that the information Shikamaru had kept secret was the fact that Raiden was, in truth, someone Konoha had thought dead for the past four years.

Tsunade was going to kill him when that damn strategist got back, preferably with Naruto in tow so that she could punch _him_ straight into the Hokage Monument.

"Why did he refuse to tell us who he was?"

Tsunade could tell that some of her anger was seeping through the demand she made of her young apprentice, but she ignored the guilt over Sakura's nervousness in favor of getting some damn answers.

"Shikamaru thought something might be threatening him," Sakura blurted. "Could Orochimaru have—"

"Perhaps." Tsunade frowned.

It was possible that Orochimaru had gotten to Naruto while he was in hiding. Was that what that stint as Raiden had been? Or had Naruto simply been going after vengeance for Jiraiya, following in the footsteps of his former teammate? Tsunade didn't want to believe it, but she knew how much Naruto had cared for Jiraiya. And four years was plenty of time for a person to change. Perhaps Naruto had used the opportunity of his death—which was obviously faked, Tsunade thought angrily—to escape from a council and a Hokage who wouldn't let him take the action he thought necessary.

"I'm not sure it was Orochimaru who kept him away," murmured Tsunade.

"Why?"

"Naruto wouldn't run away from an opponent." Tsunade almost rolled her eyes. Hell, the boy hadn't run away from her when he was twelve.

_"I'm pretty sure you can still beat me into the ground."_

Raiden had said that, hadn't he? Cocky brat, to tease a Hokage like that. How could she have failed to see how much of Naruto shone through Raiden's mask?

"Why would he leave us?"

Sakura's quiet question sounded as pained as she ever had been over Sasuke's betrayal. Tsunade knew without even studying Sakura's body language or posture that she was more concerned with why Naruto would abandon her than any betrayal of the village his leaving could involve. But Sakura's vision was skewed by what she had already lived through.

"How many of the Akatsuki has Raiden killed?" Tsunade prompted the young woman.

Sakura looked up in surprise at the question, but it brought her back to a soldier's mindset.

"Rumors say Raiden killed Pein in Amegakure just before the civil war broke out," she reported in a clipped voice that was not quite devoid of curiosity. "And he told us that he defeated that shark guy. Kisame?"

"And to be close enough to kill Pein, he had to have dealt with Pein's partner," Tsunade finished, remembering the final report that Fukasaku had given on behalf of Jiraiya.

That made at least three Akatsuki members that Raiden had faced and defeated—probably killed—on his own. Despite the picture Tsunade had kept in her head of Naruto, complete with his bright smile and indomitable attitude, she couldn't deny the freedom Naruto's death would have afforded him. Perhaps he had merely found a sneakier way to act without Konoha's knowledge or approval.

But if Tsunade brought him back now and revealed him as Uzumaki Naruto instead of Raiden, the missing nin hired to kill Orochimaru, then everyone would know how he had deceived the village during Akatsuki's invasion. That alone could be enough to convince the council that he was a traitor. If they decided he couldn't be trusted, they could decree that Naruto be turned into a weapon for the village, used only for the power he carried.

At worst, they could suggest the _Kyuubi no Youki_ be removed from Naruto and implanted into an infant, creating a new _jinchuuriki_. Danzo had suggested something like that just before Naruto's funeral four years ago. Tsunade had managed to avoid it by saying that Yondaime's seal had been soul-deep. Naruto's death had forever bound _Kyuubi_'s soul to his in death as it had been in life.

"_Shishou?"_ Sakura broke into Tsunade's thoughts.

"Sakura." Tsunade folded her hands on top of her desk and leaned forward intently. "I need you to get Naruto's old comrades together. We might have to send more than just Shikamaru's team after Naruto."

"Why?" Sakura demanded.

"He said he was going to leave once he had completed his task of killing Orochimaru," Tsunade reminded the girl. "But his place is here, isn't it?"

It was probably best if she didn't inform Sakura of the potential that Naruto could be seen as a traitor. Sakura had already had to deal with one traitor in her life, and Sasuke's reintroduction into the forces of Konoha hadn't been an easy transition by any means.

"All right." Sakura bowed briefly at her master.

"And keep this quiet," Tsunade commanded.

She didn't give a reason, but Tsunade was confident that Sakura could be discreet about this. Seeing the girl's slightly uncertainty, Tsunade flashed her a confident smile.

"Don't worry," she said. "Raiden still has to come back for his students, doesn't he?"

Sakura bit her bottom lip hard and shook her head nervously.

"Before we came here," she admitted slowly. "Mei-chan said the two boys, Kaito and Mako, left to follow their _sensei_. They went to help Naruto."

**o0O0o**

"I don't like this," Kaito announced as he and Mako stood on the edge of the raging river.

"Shut up," Mako snapped back at his friend.

They had been running for hours, and being in Ame no Kuni for so long had apparently done nothing for their leg muscles. They weren't used to traveling by leaping from tree branch to tree branch. Mako could remember seeing the ninja of Konoha do it when he was younger, but he had been too young to start learning anything back then. His only experience acting like a Konoha ninja had been the trip from Ame to Konoha with Naruto-_sensei_ and the others.

But at least they were here now. It had been hard to follow _sensei_ when the two boys were a little unsure of where the man was going. They ended up just going north towards Ta no Kuni until Mako had thought to use an Earth jutsu for tracking. He could just barely distinguish the tremors that came from human footsteps from the various animals running across the ground. As a result, Mako pushed Kaito to go faster, afraid he would lose _sensei_ if the man got any farther ahead of them. Except now they stood at the edge of a wide river, and all Mako could feel beneath his feet was the pounding of the waterfall that raged above him and Kaito.

"We have to go across," Mako announced, hoping that his confidence was as catchy as Naruto-_sensei's_ was.

He stepped onto the water, carefully balancing as he got a feel for standing on a moving surface. Naruto-_sensei_ had already taught him water-walking—said it was a chakra control exercise and _be glad I didn't take you to a hot spring, kozou_—but Mako had never tried to walk on water that was still churning from its fifty-meter drop. It felt kind of like trying to balance on snow, which Mako had only done once when it snowed for the first time in years in Hafuko. He jogged a little further out into the middle of the river then turned over his shoulder and beckoned Kaito to join him. With a roll of his eyes, the darker boy hurried after Mako with his arms tucked into his sides to make him faster.

"Can you still tell where he went?" Kaito demanded over the roar of the waterfall.

"Yeah, across the river."

It was the only place _sensei_ could have gone, especially since the river divided Ta no Kuni and Hi no Kuni. Kaito grunted briefly.

"Not what I meant," he muttered as the two landed on the opposite bank of the river.

Mako ignored him and glanced around them, as if he would find an arrow or some other obvious clue as to which way Naruto-_sensei_ had gone. The forest was denser and darker on this side of the river. Mako speared the ground with his chakra, feeling for any unusual or human-like movements. But the ground felt as thick as mud, only more solid. He grit his teeth together and frowned, wondering how real ninja found their targets. Was he supposed to ask a passing bird or something?

"We shouldn't have come."

Mako looked at Kaito to find his friend chewing the inside of his lip anxiously. Mako ground his molars together and wondered if there was a good way to kick himself without Kaito seeing it. He should know better than to act like he didn't know what he was doing. Even if Naruto-_sensei_ ever got worried, he never let his kids know. Mako should have just smiled and assured Kaito that everything was going to be fine and they were going to save the day and become big, fat heroes.

"We're going to help _sensei_," Mako declared in his firmest voice and turned his back on Kaito to indicate the end of the conversation.

"Who says _sensei_ needs our help?" muttered a low voice from behind him.

Mako chose to ignore that comment. He turned to the west and started walking, basing his steps mostly on where there was space within the thick underbrush to plant his feet. They should probably get to climbing trees again, just so they could go faster—

Suddenly, Mako's foot caught on something unseen on the forest floor. He lunged forward, spinning his arms wildly about his head to catch his balance. Just as quickly, he stood back up and spun around to make sure no one was behind him. But only Kaito stood there, with his arms folded across his thin chest and his eyes frowning incredulously at Mako. Mako shot a glare back. It was perfectly legitimate to trip when navigating through such tough territory, and Kaito should know that. Mako ignored Kaito's scoff and crept forward to see what had caused him to stumble.

Mako pushed aside a particularly thick bush and saw a foot attached to an unmoving leg. Eyes widening, Mako shifted his gaze up to uncover an entire body. It was a young man with a _hitai-ate_ around his head like a bandanna. The symbol etched on the metal band was a single note for Oto. Mako looked down at the man's chest and grimaced. A deep indentation in the man's chest circled and tightened to a hole that led straight through the body cavity of a very, very dead man. Mako had never seen what Naruto-_sensei_'s jutsu could do to a human, but sensei had demonstrated it once on a metal building. It was just more blood than Mako had anticipated.

Mako glanced beyond the body and saw fresh footprints that didn't fit the dead man's shoes.

"Come on. This way," he commanded with a wave of his hand. "Sensei was already here."

"No, really?" Kaito's response was snidely sarcastic. "I couldn't tell."

Mako shot him another annoyed glare. Kaito was never this snippy when they took trips with Naruto-_sensei_. Although maybe that was the reason in and of itself. They were going to help _sensei_, and that was that. If Kaito refused to believe that Naruto-_sensei_ needed their help, then he should have stayed home.

Mako turned his head to look at Kaito.

"You ready?" he demanded.

Kaito's right hand suddenly dropped from its place rubbing the skin on the boy's left shoulder.

"Ready," Kaito replied without looking at Mako.

Little seedlings of worry sprouted up in Mako's stomach as he watched his friend take the lead away from him. He had forgotten about _hebi-teme_'s mark on Kaito. It was usually moot point anyway, since _sensei_ could take care of it easily. But they hadn't found _sensei_ yet. Mako took a steadying breath and followed Kaito determinedly. Kaito was strong; Naruto-_sensei_ even said so. They would find _sensei_ together, and everything would be okay.

Pushing aside some of the more difficult shrubbery, Mako resolved to ask Naruto-_sensei_ how he managed to be so convincing when he assured his students that everything would be all right. Mako really needed to learn that trick, if only to use it on himself.

**o0O0o**

Kakashi didn't really believe in ghosts, in premonitions, or in Fate, but he still felt a chill run down his spine as the team sent to provide back up for Raiden crossed the Mogami River, just below the statues of Senju Hirashima and Uchiha Madara. It had been raining the last time he pass through here eight years ago, and he hadn't bothered to come back. Perhaps rain would be more appropriate now instead of the sun that seemed to shine in the most inappropriate times where Naruto was concerned.

Kiba led the five-man team through the thick jungles of Ta no Kuni with a purpose born of knowing his target and determination to see him. Kakashi had to wonder if Kiba or Sasuke would be the more offended party when they finally did catch up with Naruto. Soon, the team stood in front of a cavern etched into a mountain covered in dense vegetation. Akamaru nosed at the ground at the mouth of the cave with his master close beside him. Neji and Shikamaru stood a ways back, ready in case something went wrong, while Kakashi planted himself next to Sasuke. He still thought it was a good idea to have Sasuke on this mission. Naruto reacted more to Sasuke than anyone else. And, thought Kakashi with a wry smile, vice versa.

"The scent goes in here," Kiba called back from the mouth of the cave.

Shikamaru glanced back at Sasuke.

"Do you know this place?" he demanded, completely professional.

Sasuke glanced at the rock formations around him. Kakashi saw the ice-cold mask settle over the face of his former student. If this place was affecting Sasuke, he would never let it show.

"Yes," Sasuke finally answered. "Kabuto took me here."

"Charming." Neji scanned the area with his Byagakun active and a frown creasing his already furrowed brow.

"Let's— What is it?"

Kiba had suddenly bent low to the ground just inside the cave, sniffing at the rocks and dirt. Snapping his head around, he pinned Shikamaru with a harsh gaze.

"Those kids are here, too," he informed the appointed commander. "Mako and Kaito."

Kakashi thought of the young boy who had been cursed with a power he desperately wanted to be rid of and frowned.

"Raiden's kids?" Sasuke snapped. "Why are they here?"

"Did he take 'em with?" Kiba asked instead of trying to answer Sasuke's question.

Kakashi shook his head without responding. He couldn't imagine Naruto putting anyone in danger in that way, much less the children he had all but adopted.

"He left Konoha as soon as he got back," Sasuke hissed back. "He said he would be going alone."

"It doesn't matter," Shikamaru interjected firmly, cutting off any beginnings of an argument. "We'll have to deal with it when we get to him."

Kiba snorted his final opinion on Sasuke's cluelessness and headed into the cave, followed closely by the other members of his team. When they reached a division in the cave, with one tunnel branching off of another, Shikamaru paused and waited for Kiba's direction.

"Not good," muttered Kiba.

"Which way?" Sasuke snapped impatiently.

"The scent divides here." Kiba looked back at Shikamaru, catching Kakashi's eye as he did. "One goes that way and one continues down here."

He gestured with one hand toward each of the two tunnels that led deeper into the underground cavern.

"A clone?" suggested Neji.

"It's not a _kage bunshin_," Kiba responded immediately. "A _kage bunshin_ doesn't have a scent."

"Then he divided his clothes to throw you off."

Kakashi wasn't that surprised at Sasuke's conclusion, given that the boy had once done the same thing to avoid getting caught by the Konoha team that had been chasing him. Kakashi decided then and there that he hated irony.

"It's not like that!"

The only thing that prevented Kiba from making the mistake of turning his back on an unknown tunnel as he spun to face Sasuke was the fact that Akamaru remained where he was to guard his master's flank.

"I can smell his blood both ways," Kiba declared. "It's like he split himself in half."

"Which way do the kids' scents lead?" Kakashi asked before Sasuke could retort and before the idea of Naruto's body sliced cleanly in two could cement itself in Kakashi's mind.

Kiba nodded down the tunnel to his right.

"That way."

"And down the other tunnel?" prompted the Copy-nin.

"Bunch a'guys I don't recognize," Kiba muttered. "Smells like the kinda place snakes would like."

Shikamaru frowned as he glanced down both dark tunnels then turned to Kakashi.

"We can't assume that either one is his real body," Shikamaru said quietly. "If he only has one. We need to follow both."

Neji was already digging the short-range radios from the bag slung over his shoulder. Kiba and Sasuke took theirs without protesting while Shikamaru kept his eyes on Kakashi.

"Kiba, Akamaru, and I will go down this tunnel and try to catch up with Raiden," he announced with a nod toward the tunnel to Kiba's left. "You three try to catch up with the kids. More than likely he'll be there as well."

"Right," Neji agreed with a nod.

Shikamaru took his own radio and slipped it to rest around his neck then grabbed a second and held it out to Kakashi. Kakashi stepped forward to receive the radio. It would prove problematic if Orochimaru picked up on their presence and found a way to negate the method of communication, but for now it was their best way of staying in contact with each other. As Kakashi's hand closed around the small radio, Shikamaru leaned closer to the man's face.

"Make sure Sasuke knows what's going on before you try to convince Naruto," Shikamaru whispered. "Sasuke may be willing to talk to Naruto, but he hates Raiden."

Kakashi nodded silently. As much as he knew Sasuke could help with this mission, his main concern when the team had discovered Sasuke at the gates of Konoha had been that his student was about to leave the village again. The Council was still quite against the last Uchiha. If Sasuke had gone on a mission without the express permission of the Hokage or the Council, it would be grounds to consider him a traitor again. Kakashi wouldn't let all the work and the loyalty Naruto had shown Sasuke to go completely to waste.

Kakashi turned away from Shikamaru, hooking the radio's wire around his neck as he inserted the tiny earpiece into the ear that wasn't already blocked by his crooked _hitai-ate_.

"Let's go, then," he announced casually to Neji and Sasuke.

"Contact us if you find anything," Shikamaru ordered one final time.

"Try not to get into too much trouble, Uchiha," Kiba tossed over his shoulder.

Sasuke only sneered at the Inuzuka and stomped down the tunnel. Kakashi gave one last nod to Shikamaru, technically his commanding officer, and followed both Sasuke and Neji deeper into the dark.

**o0O0o**

Neji followed Sasuke hurriedly down the dark tunnel, keeping his eyes peeled as wide as he could while his bloodline worked to identify any trace of chakra at the edges of his enhanced vision. Neji had no doubt that Sasuke also had his Sharingan activated and searching within the tunnel. But Neji could see no hostile figures within the range of his sight. Perhaps Sasuke could see something else, chakra embedded in the walls or traces of jutsu left behind, but of course, that would require Sasuke to communicate with his team members.

"Neji, take the rear," Kakashi suddenly commanded.

Neji slowed to allow Kakashi to pass him without comment. Despite his rank as ANBU, Neji still had enough tradition ingrained into him to look up to Kakashi as both an older figure and a teacher. Not to mention all the man had already done in the war against Akatsuki. Neji cast his gaze around the tunnel they had just come down to make sure they weren't being followed. At the same time, he pad very close attention to what Kakashi said to Sasuke.

"You were asked on this mission for a reason, Sasuke," Kakashi said in the tone of a teacher who wouldn't be denied his lecture.

"I came because if Raiden doesn't kill Orochimaru, I'm going to do it myself," Sasuke hissed back.

"And if Orochimaru kills Raiden instead?" Kakashi pressed.

The question sent a tremor through Neji's heart. He owed Naruto much, and he was well aware of it. Naruto had a way of forcing people to look at their own faults and then emulate Naruto himself in working to change. When one saw how hard Naruto worked to better himself, it was hard to produce an excuse why one wouldn't work just as hard.

"Good riddance," was Sasuke's only response.

"You shouldn't speak so quickly," Kakashi replied calmly. "Haven't you seen Raiden?"

Neji saw Sasuke shoot the older man a hot glare, as if reminding Kakashi of the length of time Sasuke himself had spent with Raiden since Konoha had hired the _nuke-nin_. Neji suspected that Sasuke, of all the Konoha ninja, had actually spent the most time with Raiden between having the man live in his house and the trip to Kumo that had recently taken place. Despite it all, Sasuke still couldn't see who Raiden truly was. He bit back a scoff. And Neji thought he had been blind.

"During Naruto's funeral four years ago," Kakashi began again, "what did you see?"

"I saw nothing," spat Sasuke.

Very blind, indeed.

"You saw Naruto."

Neji blinked. That was more blunt than he suspected Kakashi had been leading up to. Sasuke suddenly stopped walking and spun to pin Kakashi with red and black eyes.

"I saw a coward who didn't even dare stick around when he was discovered," Sasuke growled through gritted teeth. "Does that sound like Naruto?"

"Something made him leave Konoha," Kakashi said firmly, now stopped in the middle of the tunnel as well. "He was under some kind of threat."

"That _dobe_ would never run away to save his own skin," scoffed Sasuke. "He's too stupid to have an ounce of self-preservation in him."

Neji noted that even though Sasuke denied ever having seen Naruto outright, he persisted in referring to his friend as if he were still alive.

"Part of his _nindo_ was not to run away from a fight," Kakashi agreed. "But the most important thing for him was protecting those who were precious to him, wasn't it?"

Neji's eyes bypassed Sasuke reaction as he caught a glimpse of two figures ahead of him. He easily identified them as children due to their size, but he had never seen the two students Naruto had taken on for a basis of comparison. But then, he saw a far more familiar figure rushing down the tunnel, directly for the children in between the new figure and Neji.

Kakashi apparently saw the tension that shot through Neji's body and pinned Neji with a demanding look.

"What do you see?" he asked.

"Raiden's kids," answered Neji.

Kakashi and Sasuke took off together deeper into the tunnel before Neji could explain the final figure he had seen. Neji followed quickly, eager to catch up to Naruto. A quick glance behind him proved that no one else was following them, either from Oto or their comrades from Konoha.

The three ninja came upon the children first. Neji recognized them easily now that he could see them with his own eyes. The older one, Mako, was light-haired; his eyes reflected the dim light in the tunnel and almost seemed to glow. The other—Kaito, Neji remembered from Sakura's words—was far more cautious, turning his back to his friend's side and his chest to the approaching Konoha ninja as if he were readying himself for an attack.

"Fancy meeting you here, Kaito-kun." Kakashi's tone suggested his face was scrunched up into a crinkled eye and creased mask that meant he was smiling. "Where's your _sensei_?"

Neji glanced up into the deepness of the tunnel and found no need to answer Kakashi's question. Raiden, with his red and white mask covering his face and a deep red coat covering his usual black clothes, blasted around a corner in the tunnel and slid to a stop a few paces away from the small party that now included his students, his comrades, and his former teacher.

Raiden tore his mask from his face, revealing the familiar rounded face with gray eyes and the shiruken tattoo on his left cheek. But his eyes were narrowed and angry, in a way Neji had never seen from Naruto without Uchiha Sasuke being involved.

"What are you doing here?" Raiden all but growled at the two boys.

Kaito shrank backwards right away, as if he had it in mind to run away from his sensei's wrath. But instead, Kaito did something far simpler and pointed directly at Mako.

"It was his idea," blurted the boy.

All the blood drained from Mako's face as Raiden transferred his gaze to the light-haired boy. Neji saw the boy swallow and wondered if Naruto had changed so much in the four years of his absence that he would be a danger to his own students.

"You are dead, _kozou_." Raiden jerked forward with one hand extended to Mako.

Then, three things happened at the same time. Kakashi took a step forward with one hand reaching out towards Raiden at the same time that Raiden's eyes widened and the man's body jerked. Meanwhile, Neji activated his _doujutsu_ once again, worried by both men's actions. His eyes caught sight of five figures descending from, of all places, the ceiling of the tunnel. Neji grit his teeth to keep himself from swearing. With the experience he had with looking _everywhere_ for possible attacks, he should have known better than to ignore what was overhead just because it was rock instead of trees. As one, the six Oto attackers let loose a hail of kunai.

Neji spun into _Kaiten_, careful to angle the solid sphere of chakra so that none of the kunai deflected from him would not hit his allies. From beside him, he heard someone let out a pained grunt. Neji did not even move his head in order to take in his friend's appearance. Kakashi and Sasuke were already engaged with two Oto shinobi. Kakashi had a kunai out, but Sasuke hadn't drawn his _kodachi _yet. Neji suspected his opponent knew enough to try to prevent Sasuke from reaching his main weapon.

Naruto had pulled Kaito into his stomach and curled his body around the boy as he stood with his face to Mako, who was sandwiched in between his _sensei_ and the wall of the tunnel. Suddenly Neji realized that the pained grunt hadn't come from Kaito landing into his sensei's gut, but the five kunai buried into Raiden's back. The worst was embedded in his right shoulder blade up to the hilt. With one hand cradling Kaito's head and the other still gripping the boy's shoulder, Raiden opened his mouth, only to dribble blood on the top of his student's head.

"_Sensei_!" Mako cried in distress.

Neji heard the _whizz_ of air behind him and turned to bat another kunai away before it could reach his once-dead friend. A shift of his feet turned his back to Naruto and his students while his palms faced two more Oto shinobi. He could hear Kakashi and Sasuke still fighting to his left, and his enhanced eyesight saw Naruto push the young, dark-haired boy into the tunnel wall next to Mako. Naruto turned his injured back to his students so they were sheltered between Naruto and Neji and Naruto faced the remaining Oto shinobi, a man at least a meter taller than the brown-haired man.

"Come to think it of it, what are _you_ doing here, Konoha?" Raiden's voice demanded quietly.

"Did you really think we would let a comrade face his battles alone, Naruto?" Neji demanded back.

Neji heard a rustling of cloth and clink of metal. He didn't need to look to know Naruto had withdrawn a weapon from the pouch on his right thigh.

"You and your stupid eyes," grumbled a voice that was more like Naruto's than Neji had heard for four years.

"If you were aiming for the element of surprise, I believe you lost it."

Neji easily slipped under a lunge from one of the Oto ninja and tapped his fingers harshly across the points along the man's arm. It was enough to drive the man back as his comrade tried to take advantage of Neji's outstretched hands.

"Hey, you're talking to Konoha's Number One Most Surprising Ninja!" Naruto's voice created a picture of the same grin he always used to wear in Neji's mind. "Wait for it."

But a pained grunt at Neji's back quickly dispelled the happy thought of seeing Naruto's grin again.

"Naruto-_sensei_!" one of the boys called worriedly.

Neji knocked the second Oto-nin across the chest, blocking sixty-four of his _tenketsu_ at once. Even before the man fully collapsed, Neji turned around and saw the giant Oto-nin's hand come crashing down directly on Raiden's head. Raiden staggered under the blow and fell to one knee.

"Naruto!" Neji cried.

**o0O0o**

It hadn't actually taken that much effort for Sakura to get the Rookies together. No one was quite sure where it started—the nickname for the generation of shinobi who had all reached the age of twenty or twenty-one, most of whom were jounin already. Sakura had once suspected her own _sensei_ of perpetuating the name, but Kakashi would never admit to it even if he also refused to deny it. But it made no difference; the name stuck.

Rather than invite all her friends out to eat, as they had done frequently before at either Ichiraku's or the BBQ place, Sakura thought it wise to keep them in Sasuke's house where they wouldn't be in danger of being easily overheard. It was a bit of a squeeze to get seven shinobi all seated and comfortable on the tatami floor of Sasuke's living area, but soon they were all present.

Hinata kept to one wall of the room, sitting perfectly in _seiza_ like none of the others. Shino, in his ever-present glasses and large hooded coat, sat beside her with his hands still tucked into his pockets. On Hinata's other side sat Ino. Sakura knew her friend had begged her father to let her leave her usual duties at the T&I department to someone else as she visited her friend. Chouji sat next to Ino, his legs crossed under him. With his familial armor and his large frame, he looked more like a samurai than a ninja; but Sakura had seen him in battle, and Chouji was fierce in his defense of his friends or his home. Tenten and Lee were sitting on either side of Sakura near the low table in the kitchen. Sai, the last of the guests, sat just behind Tenten's shoulder, near the wall of the kitchen.

Sakura twisted her fingers together and wondered nervously how to begin. She had considered having Mei perform the same trick she had in Tsunade's office, changing into the true form of the girl's sensei when no one was around. But Mei was already nervous, and Sakura didn't think the small girl would be able to perform in front of so many strangers. Mei was hiding out in her room instead. As Sakura gathered her courage, Lee was the first one to speak.

"Sakura-san, is something wrong?" he asked gently.

His question carried over the murmurings in the room, cutting them off abruptly. Sakura straightened her back stiffly at the sudden attention on her and turned decidedly toward Lee. At least he had some background about the situation, having been included in the conversation on the hospital rooftop.

"Lee, do you remember Shikamaru's theory about Raiden?" she asked. When Lee nodded hesitantly, she continued: "It's true."

"No!" shouted Lee immediately. "It cannot be."

The others seemed to find Lee's reaction more curious than Sakura's apparent nervousness.

"What theory?" Ino was the first to jump on the topic.

Lee turned wide eyes, marred by a small frown, onto the room in general as he answered.

"Shikamaru was of the opinion that Raiden was truly Uzumaki Naruto in disguise."

Even though Sakura expected the disbelieving reaction, seeing Ino's eyes widen, hearing Hinata's soft gasp, and watching Chouji's mouth drop several centimeters still pained her.

"Uzumaki Naruto died four years ago," Shino interjected in his usual cold manner. "How do I know?"

"We all know that, Shino!" snapped Tenten. "We saw his body buried."

Sakura was surprised at the vehemence in Tenten's voice. But she also remembered not believing—not wanting to believe—Shikamaru was right.

"Mei, the girl he took in—" she explained hurriedly when Hinata shot her a confused glance. "She showed me what her sensei really looked like. It was Naruto."

"How . . ?" Tenten breathed.

Sakura shook her head, unsure of how to convey the certainty that had slowly been settling in ever since Mei had first said, "Naruto-_sensei_."

"I don't know. But he always called me Sakura-chan." Sakura frowned as her thoughts came more clearly, remembering the way a dark-haired Genkei had walked beside her proudly in a border town near Ame. "I thought he was just teasing me, but I think he really meant it now. He could always get under Sasuke's skin, even when he wasn't really trying."

"This is crazy," Ino blurted suddenly. "Sakura, you're going nuts."

Sakura flinched back from the accusation, and from her best friend, no less. Chouji sent a sympathetic look toward Sakura briefly before he faced his former teammate.

"Shikamaru's been acting weird since he got back from the mission to Ame."

"Chouji!" Ino glared at Chouji as if he had betrayed her.

"And Raiden eats ramen just like Naruto," Chouji pressed gently. "Remember, Ino?"

Ino just shook her head.

"You're crazy, too." But her tone suggested more awe than disbelief.

"Sakura-san," Hinata called quietly. "Is it p-p-possible that Raiden could be N-Naruto-kun?"

Hinata was soft-spoken, but Sakura grimaced to hear her stutter again. The Hyuuga heir usually made sure to speak slowly enough to regulate her breathing and be conscious of her words so that she could speak clearly. But Sakura saw the hope shining in Hinata's eyes and knew that Hinata wanted this to be true as much as Sakura knew it to be. Only Sakura didn't have all the information yet. And with Raiden out of the village and Sasuke and Shikamaru's team following after him as Tsunade had said, Sakura had no real way to confirm what she believed.

"I don't know," Sakura admitted. "I haven't seen him with my own eyes, but Mei has. She didn't even know his name until she saw my genin team photo. She said she recognized his smile."

For some reason, that had made Sakura happy—to hear from Mei that she had known sensei as soon as she had seen Sakura's old photo. Sakura had shown her one more photo, this one of her and Naruto and Kakashi when she and Naruto were sixteen. Mei had nodded and pointed at Naruto immediately.

"Only _sensei _smiles like that," the girl had said. "With his eyes all scrunched up."

"But how . . ." gaped Tenten, her eyes searching the rest of the room before finally landing on Sakura. "How is he not dead?"

Sakura couldn't answer her. She had felt Naruto bleeding beneath her hands. She had seen his burial like everyone else. But she had also seen the small piece of a seal that Shikamaru had produced. She wished Kakashi were here as well to shed some light on that particular subject.

"Orochimaru has the ability to call bodies back from the dead," Shino said suddenly into the pensive silence that had descended on the room.

"No!"

Sakura slammed her fist down on the floor and glared at Shino. Distantly, she heard the wooden floor beneath the mats crack under her hand.

"He's not a puppet!" she shouted at the calm Aburame.

"I don't think so either." Sai's voice interjected for the first time into the room.

Sakura spun around abruptly to look at Sai. He was still socially awkward, but Sakura suspected it had less to do with a lack of knowledge and more to do with Sai's way of being funny. Now, however, the dark boy looked solemn.

"Orochimaru always uses the dead bodies he calls as weapons to do his fighting," Sai explained, "because he knows his opponent won't want to fight their old allies. If . . . if Naruto was being used by Orochimaru all along, why would he try so hard to hide his identity?"

No one answered his question, not even Shino, who had raised the point in the first place.

"Then why would he pretend to die?" inquired Tenten.

"Naruto would do anything for the sake of his bonds," Sai stated firmly, and no one argued that he was wrong. "If he thought it would be better for his friends if he were dead, then he would die."

Sakura glared furiously at Sai. She couldn't blame him, though, for saying what she already knew was true. Naruto would die to protect those precious to him. If he was under the very mistaken impression that it would be better, but still—

"How could it be better?" she demanded of Sai.

Instead of growing defensive, Sai turned a saddened look onto the young woman.

"You never heard, Sakura," he murmured. "When Sasuke first came back, the shinobi were divided. Some thought Sasuke would corrupt Naruto's heart, and some thought Naruto would be a danger to Sasuke."

Sakura heard a loud snort from the other side of the room. She suspected Ino—the girl really could sound like a pig when she was most offended—but Sakura kept her attention on Sai.

"It was members of ROOT who were most vocal," Sai continued. "I don't know what Danzo told them, but every conversation they started seemed to sow discontent."

"Did Naruto know?" Lee asked, leaning around Sakura to look at Sai.

One look at Sai's face gave an answer. The young man, usually calm and placid even when insulting, rolled his eyes at Lee in an obvious call of 'of course, idiot.'

"Why didn't he say anything?" Chouji demanded.

"N-Naruto-kun would never want his f-f-friends to be s-s-sad for him," Hinata all but whispered in response.

Sakura sank lower to the floor, her shoulders slumping.

"_Baka_," she whispered.

A brief pain shot through her heart as she wished that Naruto were actually present so that she could smack him over the head herself.

"Why would ROOT wish to sow discord within their own village?" protested Ino in a demanding voice.

Sakura wondered if her friend realized she was moving slowly into interrogation mode. Sai slowly shook his head.

"I do not know."

Ino stood, and Sakura had no delusions that her friend had not just slipped into her role as a part of the T&I department.

"Sai, tell us everything about Danzo," commanded Ino.

Sai lowered his head to gaze at the tatami mats.

"I can't."

"Sai!" Sakura growled threateningly.

She raised a fist toward Sai, but he didn't cower properly before her famous temper. Sai only looked at Sakura and shook his head slightly.

"No, Sakura, you don't understand." His voice was almost pleading. "I can't."

Sakura watched in a kind of horrified fascination as Sai opened his mouth wide and put out his tongue. At first, she suspected that Sai had bitten through his own tongue at some point and was left with a horribly discolored mark on the back of his tongue. But then she realized that the mark was purposefully designed.

"A seal?" Tenten's eyebrows rose dramatically.

Sai slipped his tongue back into his mouth, a blank look overtaking his features.

"Danzo took precautions when he indoctrinated me into ROOT," he reported coldly. "The seal prevents me from speaking his secrets."

Sakura nearly cried out loud. Danzo was ruining everything. If Sakura ever discovered that his careless words and encouraging of rumors caused Naruto to hide himself away from Konoha, she would personally bash the man's ruined face in.

"You cannot speak," Shino spoke again, quietly, "but can you act?"

Sai looked up with a puzzled frown that looked genuinely confused.

"You wish me to play the game of charades?" he wondered.

Sakura glared at Shino and sincerely hoped the Aburame had something more practical in mind than party games.

"No," Shino corrected him. "You act, we will follow."

Sakura was so surprised that Shino had failed to include a self-answered question in his comment that she almost didn't see Hinata sit up even straighter as if hardening her resolve or Chouji plant his meaty fists on his knees as the corners of his mouth set in a downward curve, the closest the large, jovial young man would get to a frown among his friends.

"We will help Naruto," declared Shino, echoing the sentiment that permeated the room.

**o0O0o**

"Which way?" Shikamaru demanded of Kiba.

He watched as Kiba closed his eyes. A frown crossed the Inuzuka's visage as he concentrated, and Shikamaru bit back a command to hurry up. They would get nowhere if Shikamaru insisted on adding to the pressure Kiba was already putting himself under. Kiba's eyes snapped open as Akamaru whined.

"I know," he growled. "It doesn't make sense."

"What doesn't?"

Kiba didn't even glance at Shikamaru, instead choosing to point his nose down the tunnel.

"The trail stops here," Kiba muttered in frustration. "It's like his scent just disappeared."

Shikamaru had the space of about two-point-five seconds to ponder that mystery before he felt it: a flash of chakra from somewhere over his head that preceded a sudden, heavy drop behind him. Shikamaru didn't move when he felt a sharp kunai at his throat as the figure behind him straightened, standing close against Shikamaru's back. Akamaru let out a short bark and started growling, while Kiba spun around to face Shikamaru and his new attacker. From the corner of his eye, Shikamaru could just barely see the quarry he and his team had been chasing.

"I told you to stay out of my way, Nara," the white and red mask growled threateningly.

Shikamaru remained calm and commanded his heart to slow down after the sudden appearance. Part of his brain was still calculating how large he could stretch his practically-nonexistent shadow in the underground cavern, but the majority knew who was behind him and wasn't worried.

"You really do suck at lying, Naruto," Shikamaru commented calmly.

"I told you, I'm not your ghost," snapped Raiden.

"Bullshit," growled Kiba. "I can smell you."

Shikamaru felt the grip holding the kunai at his throat tighten. He briefly considered the possibility that Naruto might be so desperate to keep his secret that he would do something impossible. But Naruto would never harm his friends. Even while he was Genkei or Raiden, whatever his disguise, Naruto fought alongside his friends. He had never once threatened them or Konoha.

"Show your face, ya damn coward!" Kiba suddenly shouted.

Raiden's kunai jerked, nicking the thin skin of Shikamaru's neck.

"Don't tell me you're going crazy, too, dog-breath." Raiden's voice was coldly calm.

"Bastard," snarled Kiba. "Since when does Uzumaki Naruto run away from his friends?"

Raiden jerked his kunai away from Shikamaru's neck and stepped back. Shikamaru quickly used his newfound freedom to turn around and face his opponent just as Raiden hooked his fingers under the chin of his mask and pushed it up to reveal the young-looking face he had been wearing since camping on the border of Ame no Kuni. Except now the face looked much less friendly than Shikamaru remembered Genkei ever being on their return to Konoha.

"Idiots," snapped Genkei. "Go back to Konoha. I'm doing this alone."

"You don't have to, Naruto," Shikamaru urged. "Let us help you with Orochimaru. We can figure out everything else from there."

The kunai with a trace of Shikamaru's blood on it shook and lowered slowly. Shikamaru decided to give one more push.

"You don't really want to leave your students behind," he told the fake face.

Raiden balled his hands into fists, his knuckles turning white around the kunai handle.

"Everyone," he muttered in a low voice. "Everyone, _everyone_ brings them up."

He fell silent immediately, his gray eyes staring at Shikamaru with a faraway look that made Shikamaru think he wasn't really seeing the three ninja at all. Then, Kiba stepped forward.

"Naruto," he called, his ire faded into something that was almost pleading. "Let us help."

Raiden stared at Kiba for a moment then his shoulders slumped down dramatically.

"Idiots," he murmured. "You're both stupid damn idiots."

Shikamaru scoffed. That sounded much more like Naruto. Beside him, Kiba grinned.

"Hey, drop the stupid face, hothead," the Inuzuka commanded.

Raiden's eyes darted from Shikamaru to Kiba. Then, he raised the kunai in his right hand and slid it over his thumb, as if he were preparing to perform a Summoning Technique. But then he swiped his bloody thumb over the black tattoo under his eye.

Shikamaru watched attentively as Raiden's brown hair lengthened and lightened to blond. His eyes changed to bright blue as his face became a little rounder. The shiruken tattoo faded, replaced with three marks on either cheek. Uzumaki Naruto smiled nervously at his friends, but Shikamaru could only remember the photos he had seen of Yondaime Hokage. Suddenly, Kiba surged forward and slung his arm around Naruto.

"You idiot!" Kiba all but shouted. "How the hell did you do that? Why'd you stay away?"

Watching Naruto closely, Shikamaru saw the exact moment Naruto's face froze into a mask of uncertainty when Kiba demanded an explanation. Shikamaru stepped forward deliberately.

"We'll hear about that after the mission," he announced. His eyes bore into Naruto with all the promise of holding his friend to that expectation.

Naruto shrugged Kiba's arm off his shoulder and nodded reluctantly at Shikamaru. The kunai slipped back into Naruto's pouch as a solemn look overtook the young man's features.

"I'm still killing _orochi-teme_," he announced.

The strange nickname sounded much more usual coming from Naruto's mouth than it had from Raiden's.

"What do you want to do?" Shikamaru asked him.

Naruto looked at him in shock for a moment before he closed his eyes and bowed his head, remaining motionless. Shikamaru recognized the gesture from the time in the forest before the Oto genin had stumbled upon the retrieval team first assigned to approach Raiden. Kiba had described it as "balancing." Suddenly, Naruto's head spun over his shoulder, and he stared at the stone wall of Orochimaru's underground fortress.

"Crap!" he shouted abruptly. "They're getting attacked!"

"Who?"

Shikamaru was about to echo Kiba's demand when the short-range radio in his ear crackled to life.

"Shikamaru, we found Naruto," came Kakashi's calm voice. Shikamaru heard a clang of metal meeting and a pained grunt from the radio before Kakashi continued: "And the enemy."

"What's your position?" Shikamaru demanded through the radio.

"They're fifteen meters that direction," Naruto spoke over Kakashi's reply, pointing at an angle into the cavern wall at his right side.

"How do you know?" Kiba frowned.

Akamaru trotted to the wall where Naruto's finger directed and started sniffing as if the ninken would be able to find his comrades through solid stone. Naruto dropped his hand and glanced at Kiba.

"I can sense them," Naruto explained hurriedly. "I learned _senjutsu_ from the toads."

Shikamaru noted the reference to Naruto's summoned animals and filed it away for future reference, like most of the pieces of information his brain tended to store. Suddenly, Naruto frowned back at the wall he had indicated.

"My kids are with them." His voice was bland while the expression he turned on Shikamaru was completely flummoxed. "What the hell are my kids doing with them?"

"I smelt them outside the cave," Kiba answered for his squad leader. "They didn't come with you?"

Once glance at Naruto's concerned face told Shikamaru that his friend had no idea of his students' presence. With half of his team already under attack along with the kids, the situation could get ugly very quickly. And Kakashi had said that his team had found Naruto when Naruto was clearly standing in front of Shikamaru. The strategist chalked it up as another thing Naruto would have to explain at a less chaotic time: his method of splitting himself in two perfect copies.

"We'll be there in five minutes, Kakashi," Shikamaru announced into his radio.

"Less."

Shikamaru's head snapped toward Naruto as he turned down the radio's volume. Kiba frowned, puzzled, at his friend, and Akamaru raised his head curiously.

"What?" Kiba's voice was sharp, a mixture of eagerness and suspicion.

Naruto tilted his head at the same angle Shikamaru recognized from Raiden intimidating his opponents. But now the crooked face was a familiar one, topped with a wide grin that could only come from Naruto.

"How good can you track underground, dog-breath?" the smiling man challenged.

Kiba's answering grin was the epitome of a cocky genin brat once again.

"Try me."

**o0O0o**

Sasuke summoned another shiruken from the seals on his forearms and flung the star-shaped weapon at his opponent. The shiruken caught the Oto ninja across the face and sliced a long cut from nose across his cheek, exposing the bone just below his eye. Sasuke barely glanced at his handiwork as he struggled to rein in his thoughts.

"_Haven't you seen Raiden?"_

It was a stupid question. Of course Sasuke had seen Raiden. He had seen the young man far too many times for his own liking. Ever since he had first met the man in Hafuko, it seemed like Sasuke's eyes were constantly drawn to Raiden.

And then the man _had_ to tell his stupid life story around a campfire in the woods. _Really_? An old man who hadn't survived Orochimaru's attack on his village? A brother who had been lost to darkness? The more Sasuke listened, the more Raiden's story sounded exactly like Naruto's.

The young Oto-nin fell back only to be replaced with an androgynous figure, the kind Orochimaru seemed to like keeping around. Sasuke bent down and swept his leg across the floor of the tunnel, forcing his enemy to leap above his kick. With the space afforded him, Sasuke reached behind his back and withdrew his _kodachi_. He sliced across the figure's stomach a little more vigorously than necessary, cutting through layers of skin to expose the viscera beneath.

"_Hey, Uchiha. I win this time."_

Idiot. He was as much of an idiot as Naruto ever was. Did he think everything would go back to the way it had been? He'd just renew his rivalry as if no time had passed, and suddenly Sasuke found himself covered in confetti. _Confetti!_ And Sasuke couldn't even retaliate against his prank-loving, immature, _idiot_ teammate because Raiden wasn't Naruto.

He might have shared bodies, maybe even the experiences and memories that Naruto had had, but Raiden's personality was something completely different from Naruto's. From what Sasuke remembered—through _all_ his encounters with the _dobe_—Naruto couldn't lie to save his life and he would never act as coldly as Raiden did around his friends. Sasuke grimaced as he brought his _kodachi_ down on the Oto-nin's shoulder. The slice cut down to the bone and almost severed the girly-man's arm from his shoulder. Combined with the wound that already stretched across the man's stomach, Sasuke hoped it would be enough for the enemy to bleed out. And swiftly.

"Naruto-_sensei_!"

Sasuke heard the boy's desperate cry and turned around, almost expecting to see Naruto's bright countenance there in the darkness of Orochimaru's lair. Instead, he saw the unmasked Raiden fall to one knee as Neji ran forward and struck out at the giant Oto-nin's arm that kept Raiden pinned to the ground. Mako suddenly jumped out from behind his _sensei_'s protective form and jabbed a kunai into the man's leg. The Oto shinobi's only response was to grunt in pain and kick at the boy at his feet.

The motion seemed to galvanize Raiden into moving, urging the man to his feet as he raised his hands above his head. Pushing the hand that determined to shove him down off of him, he seemed as indomitable as ever.

_No, dammit._ Sasuke turned his attention back to his opponents. The one with the cut across his face had recovered and had decided to press in on Sasuke while the dark Uchiha was distracted. Sasuke deflected a spinning shiruken with his _kodachi_ and ground his teeth together in determination. Even if Raiden was Naruto—and a _sensei_, and when had Naruto become a _sensei_—Raiden _wasn't_ Naruto.

He wasn't the same boy who had dragged him, half-dead after defeating Itachi, back to Konoha and defended him to anyone who dared demand Sasuke's blood in Naruto's presence. This wasn't the same boy that had sat bouncing on Sasuke's bed while Sasuke had bore inked seals on his temples to keep his _kekkei genkei _in check and happily declared his intention to take his whole team to Ichiraku's once Sasuke was feeling better—the same boy who had argued with a frog, saying he couldn't leave Konoha while people were giving Sasuke a hard time, and who had admonished him not to ruin all Sakura-chan's hard work and responded to his angry threats with a simple, _"Back atcha, teme."_

Only because his Sharingan was activated did Sasuke see the shiruken in his enemy's hand, about to be launched toward Kakashi. Sasuke's eyes quickly took in his former _sensei_ beside him. His _hitai-ate_ was pushed up to rest on his brow, revealing a set of mismatched eyes that stared at the Oto-nin fighting Kakashi. Sasuke brought his _kodachi_ down on the man's outstretched arm, effectively cutting it off from the rest of the man's body. As the Oto-nin clutched the severed stump of his arm, Sasuke channeled his Lightning chakra through his blade in a familiar motion and cut through the man's chest. The man fell to the ground, dead before his body could fully collapse.

"_Doton: Domu._"

Sasuke heard a deep voice at his back name the jutsu that would turn his skin into an impenetrable defense. He glanced over his shoulder to see the giant man standing over Raiden, his skin discolored to a dark gray.

Then, Neji blinked, his intense eyes widening until they looked ridiculous.

"Number One Most Surprising Ninja, indeed," Neji scoffed softly.

Suddenly, the wall of the tunnel opposite of Raiden and his kids began to crack and crumble. For one brief moment, all forms of battle stopped as both the Konoha shinobi and the Oto-nin stared at the earthen wall to see what would erupt. Then, the wall of the tunnel burst in a spiral, and an outstretched hand cradled a swirl of blue chakra that Sasuke recognized easily, having seen that jutsu up close enough times. The figure behind the swirl of chakra had his face hidden by a familiar red and white mask but topped by bright yellow hair that Sasuke hadn't seen since the day the village buried his best friend. Raiden emerged from the flying debris and stretched out his right arm and shoved the swirling ball of blue chakra directly into the Oto-nin that Neji had been fighting.

"Back-up's here!" crowed Kiba as he shook the remaining dirt off himself.

Akamaru rushed out of a second hole beside Raiden, all four feet planted firmly on the cavern floor after his joint _Gatsuuga_ with Kiba had punched a hole right through the wall of the tunnel. Shikamaru burst from the hole that Raiden had punched in the wall and launched one of his chakra knives at Kakashi's opponent, neatly slicing through the shinobi's skin while Kakashi took the opportunity of distraction to threat his Lightning-encased fingers through the man's heart.

With two more members of the attack party down, some of the chaos of the battle subsided, and Sasuke took a closer look at the new arrivals. Kiba, Akamaru, and Shikamaru looked very little damaged, and even Raiden stood straight and tall. Especially when compared to the unmasked Raiden that still knelt in front of the discolored Oto-nin. The bleeding _nuke-nin_ now slumped against the wall of the cavern, and the giant Oto-nin shot out one arm to grasp Kaito's arm and pull the boy hard.

"Kaito!" The masked Raiden darted forward, and Sasuke swallowed back a stupid urge to snap at the _dobe _for being so hotheaded.

Naruto never knew how to stop and think before a fight.

"Now, Raiden-_sama_," crooned a smooth voice from the darkness. "You know I would never harm one of your precious students."

**o0O0o**

Naruto clenched his fists so tightly that he felt his nails dig into the flesh of his palms. The sharp pricking only served to remind him that his students liked him best when his eyes were blue, not red.

Plus, he really didn't need to give Noboru any more reasons to be curious about him.

Kaito was still struggling in the grasp of the ninja who looked more like a golem. Naruto could see the inky marks of the seal leaking out from the barrier he had put around it himself. Naruto thrust his arm between Mako's body and Noboru's stance beside the Oto-nin. He didn't know how calm he could remain if both his boys were in Noboru's hands.

Noboru watched the _kage tensei _clone that was still slumped on its knees, bleeding from a deep head wound as well as his nose and making a general mess of the front of his dark shirt. Orochimaru's lackey seemed to relish, if not in the boy's panic then in the pain that crossed Genkei's face at seeing his student valiantly attempting to fight both himself and his enemies. Noboru shifted his gaze from the clone to Naruto, and Naruto became very aware that the only thing hiding his real face was a ceramic mask.

"Interesting. You seem to change appearances every time I see you again, Raiden-_sama_," noted Noboru curiously. "Do you have so many masks, or have you just forgotten what you look like?"

His tone sounded as if he were asking an old comrade about recent developments in his fighting style. Naruto could feel Mako tense behind him, his muscles pulled tight with the indecision of staying safe behind his _sensei_ or jumping out to defend Naruto.

"Problem?" Kakashi murmured from somewhere behind Naruto's left shoulder.

"Morishima Noboru," Naruto muttered back, loud enough for the entire group to hear. "He took Kabuto's place. And he likes poisons."

"Shoulda brought a med-nin," Kiba growled low in his throat.

Naruto's thoughts flashed to Sakura back in Konoha. He had told Mako to go to Sakura if there were any problems, and instead the boy had been his usual hothead self and ran off to follow Naruto. Naruto refused to consider how familiar that particular situation felt for him. Maybe this was his come-uppance for being such a brat to _ero-sennin_. But then, Kaito let out a pained cry as his eyes twisted tightly shut, and Naruto forgot about being a brat and chose to be a _sensei_ instead.

"Kaito!" he called commandingly.

Kaito peeled his eyes open again, reveling a fevered glaze covering his normally black gaze. But he looked at Naruto's masked face instead of the clone that retained Genkei's looks. The boy's breath started coming in longer gasps rather than the hyperventilating pants he had been so desperately taking in.

"You're stronger than him, Kaito," Naruto said firmly. "You know it."

Kaito nodded; or maybe Naruto was mistaking the slump of Kaito's head for a nod. Naruto felt rather than saw Neji shift his feet so that he formed a barrier against Noboru.

"Let the child go," Neji ordered calmly, his hands rising in front of him.

Noboru smiled widely as if delighted to be ordered about.

"That wouldn't benefit me very much, would it?" Noboru proposed.

He stretched out one hand toward Kaito, and Naruto saw the gleam of a silver needle threaded between his fingers.

"Noboru!"

Naruto didn't even blink when his clone took up the shouting. It might be a good thing, actually, if Noboru couldn't tell which one of him was real. Through the eyeholes of his mask, Naruto glanced at Neji. He supposed it would be too much to hope that Neji had neglected to recognize his chakra coils. Shikamaru and Kiba obviously already knew who he was, so Naruto supposed Kakashi was in on the secret as well. And Sasuke—

Naruto's hand clenched when Noboru halted his movements just enough to poise the needle just above Kaito's neck. No time to think about Sasuke now.

"What do you want?" the clone demanded, fixing Noboru's attention on him instead of Naruto.

"To learn," replied Noboru as if it were the most obvious thing in the world. "Isn't knowledge a power unto itself? And I dearly wish to know how you have accomplished the very thing Orochimaru-_sama_ wants to badly, Raiden-_sama_. You can keep from dying."

Naruto saw Sasuke flinch then hold his muscles even tighter than he had been. This conversation was not going well. He needed to give one of the others an opportunity to grab Kaito, or get an opening at Noboru himself.

"Oh, not completely," Naruto answered for his clone.

Really, _Kage Tensei no Jutsu_ was just a trick, just a technique with strengths and weaknesses like any other. If Orochimaru really understood what it cost to the person using it, he'd call it a fool's jutsu. He wasn't interested in something that would cost him too much to use. And as for Noboru, Naruto was pretty sure he just wanted to dissect one of his _kage tensei_ clones to see what it was made of.

"That's interesting," murmured Noboru.

Naruto heard Akamaru growl softly from Noboru's side. Or maybe that was Kiba.

"So, you mean to say that if I drove this needle through your heart, you would die here and now?" Noboru held up the silver needle delicately.

A wild, half-baked idea formed in Naruto's mind, and he grinned cheekily.

"Why don't you try it?" he taunted.

Normally, Noboru wasn't the type to succumb to childish taunts, much as he liked to hear his own voice, but he was curious. Noboru flicked his wrist and sent the needle in his hand flying.

Naruto was surprised when the needle drove into his _kage tensei_ clone, hitting the brown-haired man deep in the neck. Kiba was the first to move, leaping forward indignantly with Akamaru at his side. Naruto saw Noboru raise his hand with another needle in his fingers and jumped to grab Kiba's arm.

"Wait!"

Naruto jerked the Inuzuka backwards, but he wasn't in time to stop Akamaru. Naruto kept his hand on Kiba's arm as the giant white dog let out a pained whimper and sunk to the ground.

"Akamaru!" cried Kiba.

Neji jumped forward and grasped Kiba's other arm just in time to keep the wolf-like ninja from surging forward with his teeth bared at Noboru. Orochimaru's lackey smiled at his opponents.

"Wise of you, Raiden-_sama_," the man noted. "Do you know what this particular poison does?"

"How much have you learned from your sister?" Naruto hissed in Kiba's ear.

They'd need a vet if Akamaru was poisoned with one of Noboru's special concoctions. Kiba didn't get a chance to reply.

"I actually designed this poison with you in mind, Raiden-_sama_." Noboru turned his attention back to the clone, who had one hand slapped over his neck where the needle had stabbed him.

Discreetly, Naruto turned his head in an attempt to see behind him. His mask didn't help, but the remnants of his sage mode meant he could still pinpoint everyone's chakra. Shikamaru, Sasuke, and Kakashi were all standing together behind the first line of defense that Naruto, Kiba, and Neji posed. Naruto felt a little relieved that all the geniuses were together in one place.

"You should start feeling the effects by now," Noboru announced.

Naruto turned his attention to the _kage tensei_ clone, worried now despite knowing the effects wouldn't long much longer once the clone dispelled.

"The temperature of your blood should be rising," continued Noboru. "Soon, you'll feel feverish, until your entire body is consumed with flames without my having to touch you."

Kiba was focused on Akamaru now when Naruto's clone suddenly started clutching its stomach instead of its neck. Naruto didn't have the time to wonder what was wrong before he found out in the worst of ways. The clone's eyes widened, and the body suddenly disappeared in a plume of smoke.

The feeling of flames suddenly licked Naruto's body, starting from his head and working its way through his veins. He felt the giant's hand crash down on his head, even though the man hadn't moved from his position. Light-headed and feverish, Naruto fell to his knees and saw Noboru's surprised look through the hazy film that covered his eyes. It was getting hard to breathe.

"That's interesting," Noboru murmured curiously.

Naruto opened his mouth to spit out some retort; Noboru was almost as bad as Kabuto, only on the same level because Noboru never saw his experiments as human, including Kaito. But Naruto's body didn't want to obey his commands. The dark of the underground tunnel slowly closed in on Naruto's vision, and he felt himself pitch forward on his knees. He didn't even feel his body hit the ground.

* * *

A/N: Sorry this chapter is a little late. I promise I got it out as soon as possible. And with the way I have ended it, you might just be entitled to hit me if I am as late with the next chapter.

But, it's here. It might go through some revisions before the next chapter comes out, so be forewarned. I was trying to come up with something witty about posting on Super Bowl Sunday, but a football fan I am not (some of the commercials I liked, but not many). Plus, knowing my luck, I'm probably rooting for the wrong team and I have no wish to be ransacked by the opposition's fans.

'Til next time.

Fia

_Doton: Domu_ – a B-ranked Earth jutsu utilized by Akatsuki member Kakuzu. After forming the needed Snake handseal, Kakuzu will harden his body using the Earth Element. This provides greater defense against attack and will also strengthen his arm to increase his striking ability.


	12. In Which It Collapses

Chapter 11: In Which It Collapses

_Only those who will risk going too far can possibly find out how far one can go._

~ T.S. Eliot

**o0O0o**

The world dissolved into chaos.

Sasuke watched Naruto—still masked but it _had _to be Naruto; no one else could perform that jutsu he had first seen rip a hole through a water tower on a hospital roof—lose all muscle control and plant himself face-first into the ground. A memory, unbidden, shot through Sasuke's mind; a memory of a bright-haired boy sinking down off the black rod that had skewered him with only a whisper of "ow."

"Naruto-_sensei_!" Mako cried again, desperately.

Sasuke shot forward and grabbed the boy's arm, jerking him back from his suddenly exposed spot. Only Mako's surprise at being tugged kept him compliant until he seemed to realize that he was being pulled away from his _sensei_, who looked—for all accounts—dead.

"Oops," murmured Noboru lightly, as if his actions hadn't just killed the one he had been so desperate to recruit.

Kiba struggled against Neji's hand as Naruto's hand fell from its restraining hold on the Inuzuka. Sasuke could see the veins around Neji's eyes bulge.

"Akamaru!" Kiba cried desperately.

He fell to his knees beside his partner, running his hands across the dog's body. Akamaru let out a pitiful whimper, but Sasuke ignored it. Akamaru was still conscious enough to be complaining, at least. Naruto was completely silent.

"Kiba, where's your med-kit?" Shikamaru demanded as he raced forward to take the position Kiba left empty.

Kakashi stepped forward to stand next to Sasuke, just behind Mako. But Noboru raised his hand and withdrew another weapon from between his fingers, this time a sharpened kunai.

"I would prefer to take my specimens alive," Noboru said in a condescending voice. "But I can make do with a corpse. Do you really want the boy's death on your head, Hatake Kakashi?"

Sasuke wasn't all that surprised that Noboru knew who Kakashi was. Not only was Kakashi in pretty much every bingo book across the continent, Orochimaru had always enjoyed appearing omniscient. It stood to reason that his recruits would enjoy the same kind of twisted power trips. Slowly, Kiba glared up at Noboru, his eyes suspiciously wet.

"Murdering bastard," he growled.

"I haven't killed anyone yet," Noboru declared with a scoff. "But even I don't know the consequences of Raiden-_sama_'s escape from death. I wonder if he'll live through it."

Sasuke kept his eyes on Noboru rather than looking down at the figure prone on the ground like he wanted to. Noboru gave the group one more wave before the ground beneath his feet started to swirl like an eddy. A similar whirlpool of earth appeared beneath the giant ninja that held the boy, Kaito, captive. Sasuke could only stare as the ground pulled all three figures like a dark whirlpool. The earth closed in over their heads and suddenly stopped moving, leaving a stillness inside the tunnel that no one penetrated for a moment.

"_Sensei_!" Mako suddenly jerked forward and dropped to his knees beside the masked body that lay facedown on the floor of the tunnel.

Shikamaru moved from his standing position to hunker down beside Kiba and tend to Akamaru. Sasuke watched Mako shake his teacher's shoulders uselessly.

"Wake up!" the boy cried hopelessly.

Gritting his teeth, Sasuke shoved the boy aside, knowing no amount of mere shaking would be enough to summon consciousness back to the still figure. Sasuke didn't even look at where the boy ended up as he pulled Raiden's body over to his back and lifted the mask off his face. With his Sharingan still activated from the battle, Sasuke could practically memorize every feature of the face before him: the familiarity of the dark marks that stretched across the cheeks, the way the eyes were closed peacefully, the color of the skin and the hair. It was a little thinner than the face he had grown used to seeing in his dreams and memories. But it was _Naruto_.

"His chakra patterns are unstable," Neji announced from behind Sasuke's shoulder.

Sasuke finally turned his eyes to scan over Naruto's body. He couldn't see inside the body like the Hyuuga could, but he trusted the man to care enough about his friend to be sure Neji was telling the truth. There was something wrong with Naruto, something connected to that poison Noboru had used. And what was that jutsu? The figure of Raiden had dispelled like a Shadow Clone, but Sasuke knew it wasn't one. _Kage bunshin_ couldn't be poisoned, couldn't bleed.

Sasuke seized the front of Raiden's—_Naruto's_—shirt and bent down close to the prone figure. Even knowing that this _was_ Naruto only left more questions. All Sasuke wanted to do was demand some answers, but the picture of Naruto's face—still and unmoving—was also familiar. It was dark here, instead of light as it had been in the battle of Pein, but it was the same. Sasuke could do nothing for his friend. Sasuke bared his teeth in a low, discreet sneer.

"If you die here, I'll kill you myself, _dobe_."

Not expecting an answer, Sasuke straightened in shock when the body in his hands shifted slightly.

"Couldna ev'n scratch m'fore'ead, _teme_," muttered the blond.

**o0O0o**

Kiba heard Naruto's sleepy voice and turnd most of his attention back to Akamaru. He could feel the dog's pain almost as if it pervaded his own body.

"Naruto." Neji reached out a hand to steady the young man.

"Gimme a minute," muttered Naruto. "I'm not dying. My brain just thinks I am."

"Thinks you are?" Kakashi repeated incredulously.

Shikamaru passed a fever-reducing pill to Kiba, who pressed it close to Akamaru's tightly closed jaw. He keened softly to entice Akamaru to open his mouth and slipped the pill in. Close by, Mako pressed into to the small crowd huddled around the young man suddenly back from the dead.

"Naruto-_sensei_?"

"You're still dead, _kozou_," Naruto muttered with his eyes closed.

Kiba's eyes shot up as he frowned at the casual way Naruto dismissed his student. One thing that had remained true no matter what mask Naruto was wearing was the way he cared about those precious to him, and Kiba knew Raiden cared about his students. That had been evident even from the first day, when Mako had tried to pull a prank on Kiba. Mako ignored the dismissal and wrung his hands together.

"Noboru-_teme_ took Kaito," the boy announced with dread creeping into his voice.

Naruto's eyes snapped open and fell directly on Mako. Kiba almost thought that he saw a flash of terror pass through the wide blue eyes before it was effectively smothered down by an expression that flashed like lightning, terrible across a face that usually smiled far too widely for its own good.

"Right." Naruto pushed the growl through gritted teeth.

Sasuke's hand slowly slipped from Naruto's figure as he pushed himself up straight, making his spine almost into a steel rod. With his legs folded beneath him, Naruto brought his hands together and pressed the backs of his knuckles together until they turned white.

"Naruto," Neji called urgently. "We have to—"

"Wait," Sasuke commanded.

His attention more on Naruto than Akamaru by now, Kiba recognized the growing circles around Naruto's eyes. Still, when Naruto looked up suddenly with eyes that were utterly the wrong color, not to mention the weird pupils, Kiba almost believed that Raiden and Naruto could be two different people.

"They're going deeper underground." Naruto got to his feet with a frown. "I can barely feel Kaito."

"_Sensei_ . . ." Mako bit his lip worriedly, but Naruto ignored the boy and glanced at his teammates instead.

"Akamaru?" he asked with a tad more worry than was professionally necessary.

"I gave him a fever-reducer along with a soldier pill," Shikamaru answered for Kiba. "Without the antidote, there isn't much else—"

Kiba suddenly surged to his feet, grinding his teeth as he did. He didn't want to hear that there was nothing else he could do for his partner. Akamaru had been closer to him in battle than any of his comrades, even Shino. It was required between Inuzuka and their ninken. They had to be closer than anything. And he couldn't accept that Akamaru was just lying on the ground, suffering, while Kiba was doing nothing to stop it. His eyes snapped with anger as he glared at Naruto.

"Where's that damn snake-in-the-grass Noboru?" Kiba demanded, his teeth bared in a harsh growl.

Naruto glared at Kiba in return. His narrowed eyes made him look like a ghastly _oni_ in the dim light of the tunnel.

"We don't have time, Kiba," growled Naruto. "We'd have to get Noboru to give us the antidote after we find him."

"I can do that." Kiba knew something about making people do what they didn't want to. He was sure he could convince Orochimaru's lackey.

"Naruto's right," Kakashi interjected suddenly as he stepped up to stand beside Naruto. "Akamaru needs better treatment than what we could give him while trying to chase an enemy."

Kiba's jaw tensed, but he made no reply. He was too busy trying to silence that small part of his mind that echoed Kakashi's observation.

"We can't leave him behind," Shikamaru protested as he, too, stood up.

Suddenly, Naruto straightened and looked at Kakashi.

"I can get Akamaru back to Konoha," he declared.

Kiba's eyes snapped back to Naruto's unfamiliar face.

"How?" demanded Kiba.

"You gonna use your seals?" inquired Mako in a very quiet tone, like he was still afraid he would get chewed out.

"No." Naruto shook his head without looking at the boy. "But I still have the toad contract."

He shifted his attention back to Kiba.

"I can get one of the toads to bring you and Akamaru back to Konoha in a flash," Naruto explained, waving one hand to demonstrate the speed he was sure he could conjure. "But you have to take Mako back with you."

"What?" protested Mako immediately. "_Sensei_—"

"Mako," Naruto snapped. "Don't even think about it."

There was no give in Naruto's voice. No sign that he could be talked out of his current plan. Kiba's mind wandered just far enough to recognize the way Naruto sounded every time he vowed that he would bring Sasuke back to Konoha.

"I'm going to get Kaito back." Naruto finally rounded on the boy and bent down low enough to stare the kid in the eye. "And _you_ are going back to Konoha where you should've stayed in the first _damn_ place!"

Mako flinched at the obvious anger in his _sensei_'s command. Kiba had to admit, he knew how the kid felt. He didn't want to leave his friend behind. Mako and Kaito were obviously close. And if the dynamic of Raiden's little group stayed true even without the secrets and the mask, the two boys were more like brothers than anything. Kiba wondered what they would do if one was considered dead and then suddenly was alive again.

Kakashi stepped forward, placing the boy between him and Naruto.

"You can summon a toad?" Kakashi pressed, presumably to get the conversation back on track.

Naruto nodded hurriedly.

"Gamajimmu can carry the three of them," he replied. "It'll be a tight fit, but it'll be fast."

"This toad can get Akamaru back to Konoha?" Kiba demanded abruptly. "Fast?"

Naruto looked over his shoulder at Kiba and nodded. Kiba's mouth twisted in distaste. He hated having to make this decision, but he knew his options. Finally, he nodded once, decisively.

"All right. Take Akamaru back. I'll stay with you guys."

"What?" Naruto turned around fully to stare at Kiba with wide eyes.

Kiba didn't want to explain himself. It was just a matter of who needed him more. Akamaru needed that antidote, and Noboru was the only one that had it. Besides, Naruto was acting strange, and Kiba wanted to see him go back to the way he was supposed to be. He couldn't just leave and trust a friend to the darkness of Orochimaru's lair.

"I'll trust Akamaru to your summons." Kiba folded his arms over his chest as if that ended the argument.

"You gotta be kidding," muttered Naruto, more shock than sarcasm in his voice.

"You think I'm gonna let you outa my sight, hothead!" Kiba shouted.

Naruto's face suddenly took on the quality of the Hokage Mountain. His round chin, stripped free of any Henge or disguise, was set hard as he clenched his jaw.

"Naruto," Shikamaru called.

Naruto's eyes quickly turned to Shikamaru. Kiba kept his arms crossed and his frown pinned on Naruto.

"What do you want to do?" asked the team leader.

Naruto looked shocked for a moment that Shikamaru would ask. But then, a solemn mask overtook Naruto's features and made him look years older than Kiba ever thought the hyperactive ninja could.

"I need to kill Orochimaru," Naruto finally said. "That's my mission."

"And ours is to help you," Neji interjected.

Naruto shook his head but made no retort to Neji's comment.

"Kaito . . ." he began instead.

Kakashi stepped up and laid a hand on Mako's shoulder abruptly.

"I've studied Kaito's seal along with Sakura," he announced. "I know how it's tied into his bloodstream."

Naruto stared at Kakashi with his teeth seemingly fastened together. Kiba wondered briefly if Naruto was trying to set a record of how long he could keep silent.

"What do you want to do, Naruto?" Shikamaru repeated.

Naruto's shoulders slumped.

"I want peace," he murmured.

Before Kiba could comment on that strange statement, Naruto stooped down and snatched up the mask from the ground. He rested the white and red face on top of his head as he straightened and brought his hands up in front of him in a familiar hand seal. In a puff of smoke, a man dressed in Raiden's clothes with Naruto's face, complete with unnatural eyes, stood in the midst of the Konoha team.

"We'll split up," announced the original Naruto. "Kakashi, take Neji and find Noboru. My clone can help you."

The copy of Naruto nodded once without opening its mouth.

"We'll go after Orochimaru," Naruto continued with a glance that encompassed Shikamaru and Kiba. He didn't even look at Sasuke.

Naruto turned away quickly, his hand diving into his pocket. He withdrew his hand again in a fist. Kiba watched Naruto hold his hand out to his clone. The copy took something from Naruto's hand—something small, like a pill—and tossed it into its mouth.

The clone raised a free hand to its mouth and punctured its thumb with a sharp eyetooth. The digit immediately started bleeding, and the clone was quick to run through a series of hand seals and slam the palm of his hand on the dark ground of the tunnel. A small red and orange toad emerged from the puff of smoke that resulted from the summoning jutsu. Naruto's clone straightened but kept his hand hovering over the amphibian's body.

"Take the dog and the boy back to Konoha," the clone ordered. "They need medical attention."

Even Naruto's clone didn't sound like Naruto. Naruto was never that calm or that professional. Mako winced as the toad opened its mouth and shot out its tongue as if it were trying to catch a pesky fly for a meal. The tongue attached itself to Mako and yanked the boy off his feet and into the toad's mouth. Kiba couldn't help the disgusted grimace that crossed his face as the toad's mouth morphed to take in the human boy while its stomach remained the same size. Once Mako had been successfully swallowed, the toad turned its head and did the same thing with the wounded body of Akamaru. Then, with a _ribbit_ that sounded more like a belch, the toad disappeared in a small cloud of smoke.

Naruto's next steps took him directly in front of Kiba, who was still staring at the spot where the toad had disappeared and wondering how that particular move worked. Naruto better be sure Akamaru didn't get digested.

"You sure you don't want to go with?" Naruto demanded.

Kiba shook his head once, like the dog he was so closely related to, and grinned at Naruto.

"Nah," he drawled. "Someone's gotta cover your ass for you, hothead."

"Just try an' keep up with me, dog-breath." Naruto scoffed with a crooked grin.

Kiba smiled despite himself. It was about time Naruto started acting like Naruto again. Naruto raised his hand and pulled Raiden's mask fully over his face. Then, with the familiarity of Naruto safely hidden away, he looked back at Kakashi. The clone beside the older man mimicked Naruto's movements, covering its face with the white and red mask. Naruto said nothing, only nodded once—whether he was passing silent communiqués to his clone or bidding farewell to his _sensei_, Kiba wasn't quite sure.

"Let's go," Naruto commanded.

He turned on his heel and started to hurry further down the tunnel. Kakashi and Neji followed the clone back through the hold that Naruto had punched through the earthen wall with his _Rasengan_. Kiba and Shikamaru took up positions close behind Naruto, flanking him on either side, which left the rear to Sasuke.

Kiba glanced back once as he hurried after Raiden. Sasuke had clammed up as soon as Naruto had taken his mask off, and he hadn't spoken since. He was acting almost as pissy as he was during that initial trip to Ame no Kuni. Kiba sneered at the Uchiha in the rear of the party and faced forward again. You'd think the guy would be happy to see Naruto alive again, but, no. Sasuke-_teme_ had always dealt with people only as ghosts or obstacles. Kiba doubted Sasuke even knew what to do with a Naruto suddenly back from the dead.

**o0O0o**

Sai knelt on the metal platform and rested his knuckles on the floor beside his bent knee. He waited patiently, counting the number of inhales until the man in front of him finally turned to face him.

"I did not summon you."

Sai stared at the floor instead of looking up as he spoke.

"Danzo-_sama_," he began in a deadened voice he hadn't used in years. "I have heard some rumors concerning our new allies."

"Rumors?" Danzo repeated, somehow managing to match Sai's apathetic voice while still conveying an air of impatience.

"The shinobi that Raiden brought back from Kumo to act with us in our war are closely connected with Kumo's _jinchuuriki_."

This was a risky mode of information gathering, and Sai knew it. Anything that Danzo revealed could not be repeated, and Sai was running the risk of his former master growing suspicious. But this was the most legitimate that Sai felt he could bring up in front of Danzo while still grasping at a connecting to Naruto. It had been Hinata who confirmed that Kumo's _jinchuuriki_ was, indeed, the same Kirabi-_sensei_ the two Kumo-nin had been talking about when a chuunin in the Hokage Tower had escorted them to an inn-styled room. Sai supposed that the Hyuuga's special knowledge of Kumo made sense, in view of Kumo's past dealings specifically with the Hyuuga clan. He was only glad that the knowledge was his now.

"It is of no concern," Danzo announced.

Sai kept his face expressionless as he tried to determine if Danzo was simply refusing to give out information to one of his subordinates or if he was truly unconcerned with the connection.

"Kumo now has the only _jinchuuriki_ left in the Five Nations," Sai observed.

No one had ever found where or what Akatsuki had done with the _bijuu_ they had already collected. Or, if any particular nation _had_ recovered a _bijuu_, no one was admitting to it.

"His strength could be invaluable in the war against Oto," continued Sai. "Since Konoha lost its _jinchuuriki_."

Sai felt Danzo's attention sear onto him with a sudden intensity that made Sai want to raise his head and meet whatever conflict was coming face-to-face. But he did not move from his kneeling position, taking the humble pose of a servant willing to give everything to his master.

"Its _jinchuuriki_?" Danzo repeated slowly. "You can't say his name? You _were_ on a team with him for some time. And you have remained embedded in his society for four years."

It was a subtle jab, a reminder that Sai only remained because Danzo hadn't called him back. Sai was rarely called back to report to Danzo or to take on ROOT missions. His commander had become Godaime Hokage, and there were even days when Sai could forget that he belonged to Danzo. Sai kept his head down and studied the lines of Danzo's legs. Despite the man's obvious deformities, his stance was firm, unrelenting. He was not a man to be underestimated.

"A _jinchuuriki_ can be a powerful weapon," Sai said instead, sticking doggedly to his subject instead of following Danzo's trail. Danzo wouldn't expect him to be distracted, anyway.

"Uzumaki Naruto was never a good weapon," Danzo scoffed as he turned his back on Sai's kneeling form. "His ancestor, Uzumaki Mito, was a better example. The boy is too much like his mother."

Sai finally broke his rigid pose and glanced up, surprised at the mention of someone so closely connected to Naruto. He had been with Naruto's friends for nearly five years, long enough to know if anyone knew of Naruto's family, no one spoke of it. His bonds were with his friends, his comrades. His teammate was his brother, and his _sensei_ was his father. What surprised Sai the most was that Danzo was willing to reveal something about Naruto's past that no one else seemed to know. Suddenly, Danzo turned around, his limp once again firmly in place as he faced Sai. The young man kept his face blank and upraised. It would only look suspicious if he suddenly ducked his head like a kid caught looking at something he shouldn't be.

"It no longer matters," Danzo declared. His cane tapped the metal floor gently. "It no longer matters. Provisions are already made for Kumo's involvement. This war will not last much longer."

Sai bowed his head back down in acknowledgement of the point, but he refused to say anything that would appear to concede the issue.

"Go," Danzo commanded shortly.

"Yes, Danzo-_sama_." Sai sketched the man a short bow then pushed himself to his feet. The information he had gotten was interesting, if not less than Sai had hoped for. Nothing Danzo had said was completely incriminating—not that the seal on Sai's tongue would allow him to repeat it at any rate. Sai turned and prepared to leave ROOT Headquarters.

"Sai."

Sai turned around to face Danzo before he realized that his name hadn't been a call for attention. Danzo was simply musing, almost curiously. Danzo didn't even look at Sai as the old man leaned over his cane.

"I find it strange that you have held on to that name for so long."

Danzo sounded like an old man playing _shogi_, noting the curiosities of society without actually intending to do anything about them. Sai did not react.

"Your mission ended with the death of the _jinchuuriki_ years ago," observed the old man. "And yet you still call yourself by that name."

"It is the name all of my current comrades as well as the citizens of Konoha know me by," answered Sai with a smile that closed his eyes gently. "It would be very confusing if I suddenly changed my moniker on them."

It was true, but it was nowhere near the reason Sai continued to be Sai. He had known no one outside of ROOT headquarters for the first sixteen years of his life. His identity had been defined by a number, by how he ranked within Danzo's troops. For a brief time, his identity had been tied to the one person who had challenged him, his "brother." But now, he was _Sai_. That was what he answered to, and that was what his friends called him. So, Sai smiled his lousy fake smile at Danzo and refused to change who he was.

Danzo reacted to Sai's smile about as much as Sai had reacted to Danzo's jab at his connection to ROOT.

"So it would," he commented softly.

Danzo waved one hand in an absent command to leave. Sai bowed his head while Danzo turned away again. Standing, Sai spun on his heel and tried not to look too eager to leave.

"But you would be foolish to forget who gave you that name."

Sai's steps faltered briefly, but he didn't turn around to acknowledge Danzo's comment. He continued walking with even steps, feeling the slight tickling on his neck that indicated the _kikaichu_ hiding in his clothes was getting rather restless.

**o0O0o**

Naruto wasn't sure why he was leading. Sure, he could use the excuse that he was able to sense every chakra that scuttled around Orochimaru's dank, hidden base while he was using _senjutsu_. But Kiba's nose was almost as good as Naruto's nature-entwined senses; he knew that from experience. Naruto could feel Kiba's agitation lacing through his chakra system, making his energy signature a little more jerky than usual, like little jolts of electricity were running through his body. Naruto knew Kiba hadn't wanted to send Akamaru away on his own, but it wasn't in Kiba to leave his friends behind on a battlefield.

Shikamaru, on the other hand, seemed completely calm. The calmness was a little unnerving.

"We've got a ways to go," Naruto announced. "I can feel where he is, but I can't guess at the way these tunnels go."

He didn't dare ask Sasuke if he could aid in the navigational process. Bringing up his time with Orochimaru would just be stupid; besides, Sasuke was doing a pretty good job at ignoring Naruto's existence.

"Why can't we just blast through like before?" growled Kiba.

"'Cuz we're the assassination part, dog-breath," Naruto growled back. "We're trying to sneak, not storm in."

"It's probable they already know we're in," muttered Shikamaru.

Naruto grimaced at Shikamaru's evaluation. Though he did have a point. Either Noboru had informed his master about Raiden's presence—in addition to five Konoha shinobi—or Orochimaru had his own kind of surveillance in his territory.

"I could always try to fake him out with a clone." Naruto shrugged, not really meaning it. He preferred to use _kage tensei_ in situations where he knew he would take more hits than he cared to deal with immediately.

"What kind of clone was that, Naruto?" Shikamaru suddenly interjected.

Naruto turned his head to look at the genius, wondering if this was a good topic of conversation in enemy territory. But, then again, he _did_ promise Shikamaru an explanation.

_ "Kage Tensei_," Naruto finally answered. "It's a shadow clone, but it's real."

He had come up with it in Konoha, shortly before Pein had attacked. He had needed a way to meet Pein on an even playing field. If the occasion arose where Naruto had to face Pein on his own—and he knew it could happen; Akatsuki was after _him_, not any of his friends—Naruto wanted to be able to hold his own without involving anyone else.

_ "Kage bunshin _can't be real," Kiba protested from Naruto's side.

Naruto just shrugged.

"You used a summoning seal?"

The sudden theory made Naruto look back at Shikamaru. Naruto chewed on his lip as he remembered the scrap of paper Shikamaru had used during his initial confrontation. _Stupid genius_. Maybe it would have gone better if Naruto had just confessed then. Shikamaru was a genius, but he could also keep a secret. Maybe Naruto wouldn't have had to take off his mask if Shikamaru could've been helping him keep his secret instead. But Naruto shrugged off those thoughts. It hadn't happened that way, and Naruto wasn't going to beat himself up about what he should've done.

Besides, Shikamaru's genius brain was pretty much on the right track.

"A seal to anchor the clone to this realm and then about a liter of my own blood, so it can mimic a body's insides," Naruto explained. "It can get injured and bleed without dispelling. Unless I release the jutsu or the seal is destroyed, it stays."

"But it's based on the _kage bunshin_?" prodded Shikamaru.

"Yeah, that's what I started with."

Naruto had perfected the _Kage Tensei_ technique in Konoha, taking advantage of empty training fields and people's tendency to let him have breathing space. He was fortunate no one had seen him charging his clones with a fully formed Rasengan, praying this time the clone wouldn't disappear in a cloud of smoke. Naruto had been so surprised when a figure of himself had dropped down to the ground with a swirling hole in his guts that his first reaction had been to run to get help. Luckily, he remembered what he had been doing before he made a scene.

Of course the ten minutes it took him to convince his brain his body didn't actually have a gaping hole in it after he had dispelled the successful _kage tensei_ hadn't been nearly as pleasant.

"So, you still gain all its experiences," Shikamaru stated.

Naruto kept his eyes forward as he realized what Shikamaru was asking. Well, not really asking, he supposed. If that dark tone was anything to go by, Naruto guessed that Shikamaru had just figured out the main drawback of _Kage Tensei_.

"Because it's my blood—it can't be anyone else's," Naruto murmured. "I feel what the clone feels when it dispels."

He could feel Kiba's eyes on him, burning through the thickness of his coat. Even Naruto could follow the logic that if he felt the effects every time his _kage tensei_ dispelled, the reason he had collapsed on the tunnel floor was because he had been as sick as Akamaru. That blow to the head hadn't helped matters.

"So, you've died . . ." prompted Shikamaru.

Naruto took the time to glance up at the ceiling of the tunnel and quickly counted up the number of clones he had used against Nagato as well as the times he had died within Konoha.

"About six times now," Naruto finally answered. "Well, seven."

He shrugged and used one hand to gesture behind him. He hadn't included that time he was facedown on the tunnel floor. He hadn't really died, though, so maybe that didn't really count after all.

"You've _died_ . . ?" Kiba gaped without slowing down.

"It's how the jutsu works," snapped Naruto before Kiba could say anything more. "It's my blood, and it's my nerves. The clones have copies of _everything_. So I get the experience. _All_ of it."

"The receptors in your brain collect all the messages from the clones' nerves once they dispel." Shikamaru took up the explanation, sounding more like a scientist than Naruto knew he could. "That's why your brain thought you were dying. It was processing the effects of the poison on your clone."

"Yeah, so now I know how it feels," muttered Naruto. "I guess the heat was too much for the seal to remain intact."

The team of four moved into a larger opening, a cavernous expanse lit only by the pale glow of effervescent algae and slime gathered on the damp walls and in the shallow pool of still water just to their left. They paused in the opening while Naruto looked around, searching for chakra signatures it seemed only he was now able to sense.

"You've perfected everything that Orochimaru wanted," Sasuke murmured, low and biting.

All of Naruto's focus shifted suddenly to Sasuke where he stood at the rear of the team. Naruto struggled to remember if Sasuke had spoken a word since he had forcibly yanked Raiden's mask off. Sasuke _knew_ who he was now. That was one of the worst outcomes Naruto had imagined from his coming to Konoha, and now Sasuke knew. Somewhere, some diety was laughing at him.

"You can die as many times as you want, and it doesn't even affect you," Sasuke accused.

"Like hell, it doesn't!"

Naruto bristled. Hadn't Sasuke been paying attention to Shikamaru? Naruto typically didn't complain about the effects of _Kage Tensei_; he knew the cost he was willing to pay. But Sasuke only sneered at the mask that covered Naruto's face.

"I was right," he said dericively. "You don't know what it means to be human."

"_Teme_," growled Naruto, advancing on Sasuke.

"_Ku ku ku_."

Naruto heard the low, mocking chuckle and felt his stomach sink. He had been paying so much attention to Sasuke that he had forgotten what he was looking for. He hated still being an idiot.

"It seems you have turned quite passionate, Sasuke-kun," laughed the low voice.

Ignoring Sasuke for now, Naruto turned to face the cavern. A sudden flame lit up the space and revealed the cloaked man standing on a ledge on the far side of the tomb-like room. Naruto could just make out the narrowed, yellow eyes in the new light.

"Who knew you would be so eager to return to me?" Orochimaru smiled widely.

**o0O0o**

Sakura set down the tea in the center of the living room like a good hostess before grabbing a cup for herself. Hinata was kind enough to take a cup of the green tea, and Chouji snatched up a mug almost absently, like he was just feeding his habit of taking what sustenance was before him. Shino and Sai both remained empty-handed. They were missing Lee and Ino, but both had assignments that kept them busy. Ino was with her father the whole day, and Lee had a mission with his genin team that took him outside the village. The five of them inside Sasuke's house had gathered despite their missing numbers and listened almost silently as Shino recited the conversation that his ___kikaichu_ had overheard between Sai and Danzo.

"You're saying Danzo knows that Naruto is alive?" Tenten deadpanned.

"I do," Shino responded. "Why? He did not speak as though Naruto were dead."

Sakura nodded with only half her mind on Shino's way of speaking. But Danzo had all but called Naruto Konoha's current _jinchuuriki_. He had to know that Naruto was alive, if not more immediately about the mask Naruto had returned wearing.

"Is it possible that Konoha made Naruto's identity a secret," Chouji mumbled, "the way everyone knew he was the host for _Kyuubi_?"

That particular secret wasn't a secret anymore. It had been moot point after Naruto's funeral and the end of the _jinchuuriki._ But Sakura could still remember the day Naruto had unceremoniously blurted out his greatest secret: the demonic nine-tailed fox was sealed inside his own body. The sight of Chouji's frown made Sakura shake her head, trying to dislodge the memory that had settled so heavily in her stomach.

"No," she finally answered. "Tsunade-_shishou_ was shocked when she saw Mei's henge. I don't think she had any idea Naruto wasn't dead."

"But if Danzo did know, what does that mean?" pressed Tenten.

"Danzo may have provided Naruto with the means to fake his death," Shino observed. "How do I know? Shikamaru mentioned a seal."

Sakura frowned despite herself.

"He did," she agreed. "But he said it was like a summoning seal. That doesn't sound like the one Sai has."

Sai lifted one shoulder in a half-shrug, almost apologetically.

"Mine bears more resemblance to Orochimaru's _Ten no Juuin_."

Four heads snapped to look at Sai, who looked distinctly uncomfortable with the sudden attention.

"It's tied into my nerve endings so that my tongue is paralyzed," he explained shortly.

Sakura wondered how much of the lack of information from Sai was _because_ of the seal. It didn't help also that at least two people who had been in on the initial theory about Raiden were now out of the village. Sakura drew a little bit of hope from the idea that Shikamaru and Neji, if they even suspected Raiden could be Naruto, would protect their friend with their lives.

Suddenly, Sakura heard a soft, croaky _garrumph_. She frowned and looked around just as Tenten tensed, withdrawing a kunai from her wide sleeve. Sakura followed Tenten's gaze to a small creature hopping along the engawa of the house.

"That toad has more chakra than it should," muttered Tenten.

_ Toad?_ Sakura suddenly jumped up and opened the paper door of the living space. A red and orange toad hopped through the open doorway as if it were the most common thing in the world to invite a toad into a house. Then, the toad opened its jaws in a wide arc, and a human foot shot out of its mouth.

Chouji's eyes suddenly widened, and he slammed the mug of tea down on the tatami so hard a splash of hot liquid overflowed the cup and splashed onto Chouji's hand. The large ninja didn't seem to notice, however, as he lurched forward and wrapped his large hand around the thin ankle. It wasn't large enough to be Naruto's, Sakura realized with a start, but who else would be vaulting feet-first from the inside of a toad?

Sai jumped to his feet and planted himself beside Chouji as another foot appeared from the toad's mouth. Sai quickly caught a hold of the flailing appendage and pulled alongside Chouji. Sakura watched in strange fascination as a boy's lower body slowly emerged from the toad's mouth as if the toad itself was an anomaly in the space-time fabric. Sakura recognized the damp, slimy form of Naruto's oldest student, Mako, about the same time as Mako's head popped out of the toad's mouth.

"C'mon, stupid mutt," muttered Mako.

His eyes were scrunched closed as his arms reached into the belly of the toad, apparently still attached to something within the creature. Sai and Chouji gave a final almighty tug and drew the boy out from the toad's grasp. Mako's hands held tightly to the front paws of a familiar, large white dog.

"Akamaru!" Sakura cried as the dog slumped onto the floor with a whimper, Mako following suit by sliding away on his stomach with his hands still clasping to Akamaru's paws.

Mako's head jerked up at Sakura's cry. He dropped his hold on Akamaru and scrambled to his hands and knees as Chouji and Sai released his ankles. Mako's eyes widened at the sight of Sakura bearing down on him, and he scrambled away. Sakura judged from his movements that the boy, at least, was not too injured. Akamaru was a different story. Even from her preliminary glance, Sakura could tell something was seriously wrong with the ninken. As she knelt beside the giant dog, Mako shuffled forward and stretched out his hand. He slammed down his palm toward the still-small toad, but the creature simply jumped backwards and let Mako's hand crash on the tatami in front of the toad.

"Stupid toad!" Mako shouted. "You couldn't drop us off at the hospital?"

The toad emitted a small _ribbit_ and disappeared in a puff of smoke.

"Mako!" Sakura snapped.

Mako spun around, sitting back on his heels. His eyes widened again when he saw five different ninja staring back at him. Apparently, his mind hadn't taken in anyone other than Sakura.

"Oh, crap," muttered the boy.

**o0O0o**

Kakashi skidded to a stop across the rough floor of the tunnel when he saw the spindy figure bearing Oto's symbol on his forehead. The man Naruto had named Morashima Noboru looked just as supremely confident facing down three shinobi as he had facing seven. The statue-like man stood just behind Noboru, still holding Kaito in his arms like a vice. The marks, like tiny tongues of fire, had spread across the skin on Kaito's face, and Kakashi was sure he saw black marks traveling down the boy's arms

The masked figure of Raiden drew up beside Kakashi. Naruto balled his hands into fists and squeezed so hard that Kakashi heard his skin squeak softly, like fresh leather. Neji slid to a stop on Naruto's other side, his eyes widened to take in all of their opponents as well as the boy.

"Kaito's chakra coils are expanding," Neji stated quietly. "His chakra is too chaotic for his body."

Kakashi couldn't see within the boy's body like Neji could, but he recognized the signs of the curse seal taking affect. Kaito was losing control to a condition he hated. And Naruto was become increasingly desperate with every passing moment. Kakashi made a snap decision and shifted his weight so that his left shoulder blocked Naruto's line of sight to Noboru.

"I'll take care of him," Kakashi declared.

He could feel both Naruto's and Neji's attention pinned on him suddenly, but Kakashi kept his eye on Noboru while his right eye remained closed. The Sharingan threw off his depth perception too much for him to keep both eyes open while running.

"Be careful, Kakashi-_sensei_," murmured Naruto close to his ear. "Last time he threw a poison at Sasuke, not even his Sharingan could tell the difference."

A small part of Kakashi's heart indulged in a leap when Naruto called him _sensei_ once again. But the greater part of Kakashi hoped that Noboru hadn't heard anything of what Naruto had said. Just because the Konoha team now knew Raiden's true identity didn't negate the need to be cautious around Oto. Kakashi turned his head just enough to meet Raiden's white and red mask and smile carelessly under his mask.

"Go help your student," he urged in a tone more reminiscent of teasing his genin students than ordering a team.

Raiden's mask gave no clue as to his thoughts, and Kakashi knew he would have much more luck at reading Naruto's emotions if he could see the man's face. Naruto was always too expressive. Maybe the mask had actually been good for him—barring the underlying fact that he had used it to hide his identity from Konoha and make sure no one knew he was alive. But they'd get to that later.

Naruto finally gave Kakashi a short nod and jerked away from the man's side. With a speed that had increased the last time Kakashi had seen his student, Raiden ran along the tunnel wall and executed a half-flip that landed him behind the giant ninja that held his student captive. Neji followed him without further instruction, planting himself before both the Oto-nin and the captive boy. Satisfied with the division of troops, Kakashi focused his entire attention on Noboru.

"Aw, I wanted to talk to Raiden-_sama_," pouted his opponent, sounding completely unconcerned at the change in lineup.

_ "Maa_," Kakashi sighed in return. "I guess you'll have to make do with me."

The pout abruptly fell off Noboru's face as he stared at Kakashi, his eyes lingering on the obvious scar running through his right eye.

"Indeed, Hatake Kakashi," the man murmured.

Kakashi saw the man's movements a moment before they actually occurred, giving him enough time to withdraw a kunai and bring it up to meet the silver senbon in Noboru's hand as the Oto-nin charged him. Kakashi's mind was racing even as he deflected blows from both of Noboru's hands. The man was apparently ambidextrous, not favoring either hand as he attempted to find an opening in Kakashi's defenses. And his senbon were made of metal rather than the traditional wood. The change in material made the needles more like medicinal needles than weaponized ones, which fit with what Naruto had said. The man liked poisons and chemicals. Kakashi wouldn't be surprised if Noboru had the same type of medical expertise that Orochimaru had demanded of Kabuto.

Kakashi brought his kunai in front of his face suddenly as Noboru's metal needle jabbed at his face. His other hand grasped Noboru's wrist to keep him from drawing any more needles. Noboru froze in the stalemate the two combatants had created.

"That eye was transplanted for you, wasn't it?" pondered Noboru, staring into Kakashi's eyes. "I would love to study the surgery. Who performed it?"

Kakashi gave the senbon in front of him a hard shove and forced the sudden feeling of violation to the back of his mind. Noboru twisted his right hand free of Kakashi's grip. Kakashi shifted and tried to twist the younger man's empty left hand backwards to pin his arm behind his back, but Noboru slashed at Kakashi's wrist with his senbon, forcing Kakashi to retreat.

Kakashi jumped back and stared at Noboru with both eyes open. The man wasn't using any jutsu that Kakashi could copy and then use against him, which made sense with as much as Noboru seemed to know about the Sharingan—or at least Kakashi's Sharingan. The _Kamui_ was still available to him, but in such a confined space, Kakashi couldn't use that technique _and _guarantee the safety of his teammates. He had to keep Noboru's focus on him.

"Why are you so interested in Raiden?" Kakashi demanded.

For a moment, Noboru looked as if his mind had removed itself from the battle. He gazed at Kakashi with the wide-eyed wonder of a student learning something fascinating.

"Have you ever seen him die, Hatake-_san_?" Noboru queried.

Kakashi did not respond, trying to keep the so-recent image of his most promising student face down on the ground of a dark tunnel, or face up lying in the rain by the side of a river. Noboru didn't seem to notice Kakashi's silence.

"He bleeds as any other man does," the Oto-nin continued. "I have been close enough to see the light go out of his eyes. He dies, and yet he lives. It is fascinating."

_Fascinating_ was not the word foremost in Kakashi's mind. But every moment Noboru spent extolling the mysteries of Naruto's strange way to avoid death, he neglected the two ninja trying to save the boy. Kakashi could just barely see Neji dart between flailing appendages to grasp at Kaito while Naruto reigned down blows on the giant's tough head. With his new arts in _senjutsu_, Naruto was probably as tough as the ninja's impenetrable skin. Noboru kept his focus on his fascination.

"He could be a powerful ally," murmured the high-ranking Oto-nin. "Unfortunately, he seems to prefer to remain independent."

Noboru cast a glance toward the space where Naruto and Neji fought. Kakashi quickly shifted his weight to call the young man's attention back to his opponent. He wasn't sure of his success, as Noboru chin tilted down to allow him to keep both Kakashi and Naruto in his peripheral vision.

"I do not think your methods are endearing him to your cause," Kakashi commented, forcing his voice to be casual.

Noboru finally turned back to Kakashi with a look of sad resignation.

"Oh, I knew Raiden-_sama_ would never ally himself with Oto as soon as Kaito -_kun_ disappeared," Noboru lamented.

Kakashi could only be happy that Noboru didn't seem to have the flair for the theatrical or dramatic like Kabuto always had. Instead, the man seemed genuinely saddened by the knowledge that Raiden would never be an ally of Oto.

"Raiden-_sama_ would never deviate from his path once he has decided on it." Noboru stepped away from the scene of his comrade's battle, apparently unconcerned when Kaito ended up in Neji's arms, knocked unconscious from the stress of having his _tenketsu_ blocked.

"Then why your continued interest in him?" prodded Kakashi.

Part of him didn't want to know the answer, but he had been a soldier for too long to disregard an opportunity to understand his enemy's motives.

"Because it would be invaluable to have him answer my questions during his dissection," Noboru deadpanned.

Kakashi saw the motion forward a moment before Noboru attempted it and took full advantage of the precious seconds he had. He flicked his wrist to send the kunai in his hand sailing for Noboru's head and leaped forward to join in the fray once again. As Noboru ducked to avoid the flying weapon, he suddenly winced and let his right arm hang limply by his side. Kakashi recognized the attack and changed his direction abruptly. He called a _Raikiri_ to his hand without much thought and brought his hand down swiftly across Noboru's left thigh.

Noboru twisted his body sideways and brought his left hand up in a sloppy one-handed seal. Kakashi's Sharingan saw the transportation jutsu and tried to grasp at the faint edges of chakra surrounding the man.

"Wait!" cried Neji from his position behind Noboru.

Kakashi blinked then felt the chakra he had failed to catch reappear behind him. Quickly, he spun around so that he was shoulder to shoulder with Neji, facing Noboru once again. The young man had his left hand encased in a dull, green light, performing the _Shosen Jutsu _on the large gash Kakashi had left in his thigh. From the look of it, Kakashi guessed he had at least nicked the femoral artery. Even after treating himself on the field, Noboru would not be able to fight both Kakashi and Neji, especially now that his right arm was practically useless thanks to Neji's _Jyuuken_ strikes from behind. Noboru grimaced and looked up at Kakashi.

"You seem to have me at a disadvantage." Noboru tried to turn the grimace into a smile and only succeeded in twisting his mouth into an ugly shape.

"Probably wouldn't happen if you didn't talk so much, Noboru-_teme_," growled an additional voice.

Kakashi found the idea of Naruto reprimanding someone for talking too much ironic, but he was more relieved that Naruto had apparently defeated the giant Oto-nin to worry too much. Naruto came to stand beside Neji, carrying an unconscious Kaito over one shoulder like a sack of rice. Noboru effectively wiped the twisted expression from his face as he stood partially maimed and faced his three opponents.

"I may have been mistaken before," he noted quietly. "Are you Konoha's ally, or are they yours, Raiden-_sama_?"

Naruto lifted his free hand and pulled his mask just far enough away from his face to spit a glob of clotted blood and spit on the ground. For a moment, Kakashi almost forgot that the figure to his side was a clone and not the real Naruto. These clones that could bleed were throwing him off a bit. Slowly, Naruto hoisted Kaito's body onto Neji, leaving his hands free.

"Wanna see how easy it is to live after your head's cut off, bastard?" Naruto returned with a bite.

"I'll leave that to you, Raiden-_sama_," Noboru said with a short bow. Apparently, even he couldn't tell the difference between the real Raiden and one of his special clones. "Even I know when retreat is the best option in a battle."

Suddenly, Raiden's mask appeared behind Noboru's useless right shoulder as Naruto held a kunai to Noboru's throat. Kakashi wondered when Naruto had made another clone until he glanced to his right and saw only a shocked Neji holding an unconscious boy. Naruto was no longer there.

"Not until you give us the antidote." Raiden's voice was cold and demanding.

That couldn't have been _Hiraishin_. Naruto didn't have the seal, nor had Kakashi seen him throw anything that could have a seal on it. Naruto had simply teleported himself behind Noboru, in which case his _Shushin_ was far above and away most jounin's. Hell, Kakashi hadn't seen anyone that fast since Minato-_sensei_.

Naruto really was turning out like his father.

"I gave the boy nothing," answered Noboru carefully.

"No," growled Naruto. "The one in your senbon."

Noboru's eyes widened.

"Are you still feeling its effects?" he wondered aloud, his voice taking on a tone of awe. "I thought it was a clone I had poisoned, but then the effects wouldn't transfer to you. Was it a substitute? When I took your body from the wall of Konoha, it disappeared in a similar manner."

Through all his suddenly excited ramblings, Noboru was growing uncomfortably close to the truth. Kakashi saw the fingers holding the kunai against's Noboru's throat tighten.

"You're a careful bastard." Naruto's voice dropped even softer. "Where's the antidote?"

Slowly, careful to keep his hand in plain view of the two ninja in front of him, Noboru reached into the small pouch at his waist and withdrew a glass vial. Kakashi saw the subtle flit of the masked man's chin and stepped forward obediently to grab the vial. Suddenly, Noboru flicked the glass container into the air and spun around on his good leg to face Naruto. Kakashi made a choice and dove after the antidote, tracing its path through the air with both eyes. He felt the ground quail suddenly beneath him just as the antidote landed in his gloved hand. When Kakashi turned his attention back on his former student, Raiden stood just in front of a large hole in the tunnel floor. Noboru was nowhere to be seen.

_ "Kuso_," muttered Naruto through gritted teeth.

"Can you still feel him?" Kakashi demanded quickly.

"No." Naruto's answer was just as quick, if not slightly muffled by his mask. "He must have transported out of the base. He won't stick around here to defend _hebi-teme_."

"Quite the loyalty Orochimaru inspires."

Neji's tone fully implied that he would roll his eyes if it wouldn't affect his Byagakun so much. The Hyuuga stepped up to Kakashi and shifted the boy in his arms to a slightly more comfortable position. Kaito showed no signs of waking.

"Do we meet up with the others now?" asked Neji.

"There's an easy way to let them know we were successful," Naruto protested before Kakashi could answer, "and Kaito needs to go back to Konoha."

Kakashi only grasped what Naruto meant when he held his empty hands in front of his masked face and positioned the first two fingers of each hand into a cross shape.

"Wait," Kakashi blurted. "If Kaito needs to get to Konoha, wouldn't the fastest way be to summon a toad?"

Raiden's mask tilted in a way that made Kakashi think of a curious _kodama_, more spirit than physical.

"Yeah," Naruto finally answered.

"Do you have the blood to do that?"

He understood the basics of Naruto's strange new jutsu. Obviously, it had the means to appear to be bleeding, and as long as the blood was the same as Naruto's, the summoning contract would work.

"Of course," replied the clone shortly.

"We should also make sure the antidote gets to Akamaru," Kakashi added, just to solidify his argument.

The masked Raiden finally lowered his hands with a huff.

"Fine."

"Can we trust the others to be all right?" Neji cast a suspicious glance at Kakashi, and Kakashi wondered how much the Hyuuga had figured out already.

"Don't worry." Raiden waved one hand through the air as he approached Neji. "Boss'll be fine. He's got Sasuke with 'im."

Neji looked as if he would spit out a response to that last comment, but he kept his lips pressed tightly together. Kakashi nodded in approval; this wasn't the time for that particular outburst. Not yet.

"What do you need?" he demanded of Naruto's clone.

The clone took Kaito back from Neji, leaving the mask over a face Kakashi felt like he hadn't been privileged to see for near enough time.

"Just wait until we get to a place big enough," replied the flesh-and-blood copy. "We don't need to be so sneaky this time, and Gamatatsu's wanted to get out for a while."

Kakashi didn't remember the names of all the toads like Naruto did, but he trusted his student. At least he had managed to convince him not to dispel without warning. Either Naruto had forgotten about the memory transference quality of _kage bunshin_ or he had been fully prepared to neglect the consequences, as usual. But Kakashi had seen enough to know that the sudden knowledge of wounds he hadn't even sustained could distract Naruto. That was something he didn't need if he was going to be facing Orochimaru.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke looked up at the figure of Orochimaru and glared.

"I never thought you would return here of your own will, Sasuke-_kun_," noted Orochimaru, and yet his voice showed no surprise. "You were so determined when you took your leave."

Sasuke clenched his teeth together and refused to answer. A part of him was surprised Naruto hadn't shouted out some ridiculous threat by now. The scene was similar enough to warrant it, and wasn't that what Naruto had always done when confronted with either Sasuke or Orochimaru? But Naruto's masked face only stared at Orochimaru in complete silence.

Naruto stepped away from Sasuke abruptly. Sasuke tried to follow his movements while still keeping his eyes on Orochimaru. The Konoha traitor seemed to take notice of the addition to the Konoha team with relish.

"And Raiden-_kun_ as well," Orochimaru exclaimed delightedly. "Noboru-_kun_ told me you would be along soon."

"You took my student," Naruto growled in a voice very unlike his usual one.

Sasuke's head suddenly snapped to Naruto as he wondered just how in control Naruto was. Sasuke hadn't seen it often—he hadn't even _felt_ it from Raiden since he had met the man in Hafuko—but he still remembered the feeling of a dreaded, crimson chakra that covered all traces of Naruto's own. But then, staring at Naruto's back, Sasuke saw Naruto make jerky hand signals behind his back. Shikamaru and Kiba were already shifting their weight carefully, but Sasuke either couldn't remember what the hand signals Naruto was using meant or if the hand signals was something Konoha had come up with while Sasuke had been . . . missing.

"You care so much about that boy, Raiden-_kun_," Orochimaru continued, apparently not noticing Naruto's silent communications. "Why do you show such interest in a child that you have no connection with?"

"Because no one deserves what you put them through, bastard," muttered Naruto.

Sasuke couldn't sense any poisoned chakra from Naruto's figure, so he focused his attention on Naruto. But then, a sudden movement from Orochimaru sent his head spinning back. Orochimaru opened his mouth and let a mass of thin brown snakes emerge from his throat, as if his stomach contained a nest of the creatures. The snakes split themselves into two groups, one heading for Shikamaru and Kiba while the other streamed as one entity toward Raiden. Almost without thinking, Sasuke leaped forward and took up a place beside Naruto.

Shikamaru jumped away from the extended snakes' heads and landed on the wall of the cavern. He had barely gotten his stance planted when the earth under his feet shifted and crumbled. He let himself fall to avoid the fangs that shot out of the ground and raised the chakra knife in his hand to meet the snake's fangs. Gravity did its work better than anything, bringing him away from Orochimaru's summons as he fell toward the floor of the cavern.

"Oof," Kiba groaned as Shikamaru landed directly on his chest.

Sasuke withdrew his _kodachi_ and swept the blade across the nest of snakes. Most of them were decapitated immediately. Naruto picked up most of the rest with a sweep of his hand and an extension of chakra that looked like _Kaze no Yaiba. _Sasuke saw one last creature inching its way toward him and savagely stabbed his blade into the snake's head, pinning it to the ground. Beside him, Naruto remained frozen in a crouch.

"Shikamaru doesn't have enough light," Naruto muttered to himself. "Sasuke, we need fire."

Orochimaru closed his mouth then coughed up a shockwave of chakra that kicked up loose particles of dirt. Sasuke raised his arms to shield himself from a shower of earth that pelted the two shinobi like small cannon blasts. One clump struck his right calf and broke apart. Sasuke refused even to grunt at the bruise he knew would be there within a few seconds.

"What do you propose I set aflame?" he demanded.

Naruto held out his right hand, palm up, as the cloud of dust that resulted from Orochimaru's latest attack shielded him from Orochimaru's eyes. For a moment, Sasuke couldn't tear his eyes away from the growing ball of blue chakra in Naruto's hand. Then, surprisingly, the ball didn't stop growing. Sasuke could feel the still, stale air in the underground lair shift as the jutsu in Naruto's hand drew the air around it into itself—slowly at first, and then with such force that Sasuke's hair whipped toward the vortex. The simple _Rasengan_ Sasuke remembered had transformed itself into a giant shiruken shape, its blades slowly spinning the same direction as the wind.

"This," Naruto answered, his voice deadly cold.

Sasuke nodded and ran through a series of hand signs he had known since he was eight. He pinched his thumb and forefinger together and held them up to his face like a whistle.

"_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu__._"

A stream of fire shot from Sasuke's mouth and condensed into a large fireball. Beside him, Naruto cocked back his arm and lobbed the jutsu in his hand like he was playing ball. The shiruken-shaped _Rasengan_ sailed through Sasuke's fireball, picking up the flames as it went. Naruto shouted out a warning to Shikamaru and Kiba just in time for Kiba to burrow into the ground, providing a flimsy shelter from the heat that stormed the opposite end of the cavern were Orochimaru stood. Sasuke could still feel the heat sear across his sensitive eyes from where he stood.

It _was_ Naruto's style, to make a jutsu so large there was no way an opponent could escape from it.

The flames died down as the blades of wind sunk into the wall of the cavern and obliterated Sasuke's view of Orochimaru. Sasuke studied the damage left behind from his and Naruto's combined jutsu. A large deep gash stretched across the earthen wall horizontally while the fire had scorched the earth dry. Small tongues of flames still licked the edges of the straight scar, casting a ghostly light on the fighters still scattered in pairs about the cavern.

"Jeez, ya think you went a little overboard?" Kiba called out, dusting himself off.

"Do you see him?" Naruto hissed at Sasuke instead of responding to Kiba.

Sasuke peeled his eyes open wide and studied the cavern. A figure, badly burnt but still standing, hovered against the wall. The light from the fire behind him sent his shadow streaming out in front of his body.

"I see him," growled Sasuke.

"Shikamaru!" Naruto snapped, command issued in every aspect of his voice.

"Got 'im," murmured Shikamaru.

A shadow, long and thin, stretched for the still figure. Sasuke worried for a moment that Orochimaru was simply faking. Another moment and he would leap out of the way just before Shikamaru's shadow connected. But the figure didn't move, and Shikamaru's shadowy jutsu pinned Orochimaru into a frozen position.

With the new light, Sasuke could see the skin scorched off part of Orochimaru's face. The peeled-back skin revealed a younger-looking face than Orochimaru had any right to have. The eyes were the same yellowed, narrowed gaze, but a lock of hair that fell past Orochimaru's nose was dark red. Shikamaru shivered as Sasuke heard Orochimaru chuckle.

"You _have_ gotten stronger, Sasuke-_kun_," Orochimaru noted. "But I hadn't thought such a blatant attack was your style."

Well, Sasuke could hardly argue with that. But, as a matter of principle . . .

"I was able to stab you in the heart once," Sasuke commented easily. "Now you're going to die for good."

* * *

A/N: Really, did you ever think I could kill Naruto, of all characters? I am very glad to get this chapter out after the non-entity that was February (we'll just call it a black hole and be done with it). But I have also realized that I didn't get quite as far in the action as I wanted to before the end of the chapter. Yet another reason I dislike fight scenes.

Bare with me, here. I've still got a couple confrontations to go and we start back with what it means for Konoha for Naruto to be alive. (looking forward to that, I admit)

Sincerely,

Fia

Gamajimmu – I decided to give the toad that Jiraiya uses to infiltrate Amegakure in the manga a name (it's the one that stays small when Jiraiya kind of _emerges_ from its mouth). He's basically a transport toad, and he never has any lines in the manga that I know of.

_Kaze no Yaiba_ – A Ninjutsu technique that involves making a blade out of the Wind element. After forming the needed hand seal, a cutting whirlwind will envelop his opponent and cut them to pieces. Unlike a real sword, which can face resistance, the wind blade will be able to slice with little difficulty.

_Kamui_ – Hatake Kakashi's Mangekyou Sharingan attack. Kakashi can use his Sharingan eye to send an object to another dimension.

_Katon: Goukakyuu no Jutsu _– A Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Fire Element. The ninja does the necessary hand seals, draws chakra from their mouth into their chest and them immediately exhales it. They then blow a stream of fire, which erupts into a large sphere of flames.

_kikaichu_ – the Aburame destruction bugs, implanted into clan members at birth.

_kodama – _A tree spirit in Japanese folklore. I was actually thinking of the little beings in Princess Mononoke as an example.

_Shosen Jutsu_ – Mystical Palm Technique: This medical ninjutsu allows the user to speed up the body's natural healing process by sending chakra from their hands into a wound or afflicted body part. Pretty much a standard for any med-nin.


	13. In Which He Remembers

Chapter 12: In Which He Remembers

"_One must have a good memory to be able to keep the promises one makes."_

~ Friedrich Nietzsche

**o0O0o**

The clone didn't really have an identity, and it knew that. It was an extension of its creator, a shadow of the one who had cast the jutsu. It was, in essence, everything that made up Uzumaki Naruto. Nothing it did could be contrary to that identity.

So, the way the clone carried Kaito tightly against its chest and the way it worried about nothing but getting to an area large enough to summon a toad and get the boy to Konoha where Sakura-chan could work her magic on him was simply the exact thing Naruto would do under the circumstances.

It wanted to urge the boy to wake up, a desire born of a ridiculous notion that Kaito wouldn't be deemed all right until he opened his eyes. But it was easier to carry him while he was asleep, and the clone also had to think of the two ninja it was leading. And the fact that they were still within the depths of Orochimaru's territory. It wasn't like they could depend on any sudden allies showing up. The clone stopped and stood absolutely still.

"What is it?" Neji demanded.

The clone couldn't answer without disrupting its stance of not-moving, and if it moved, it would have to start gathering sage chakra all over again, and it couldn't afford to lose even that much time.

"Is something wrong?" Kakashi's voice was seemingly calm, but the need to ask the question alone told the clone that Kakashi was worried.

The clone felt its new strength trickle to a dirty stream. The surroundings of the subterranean base were not conducive to the normal flood of energy it usually received from _senjutsu_. Trust Orochimaru to poison everything.

"It's nothing," the clone finally answered.

Neji didn't believe that; even the clone could tell what the displeased frown on the young man's face meant.

"Why did you remove yourself from Konoha?" Neji suddenly asked, his tone frigid.

The clone wished for a free hand to scratch the back of its head. Some habits were ingrained for the simple reason that they were Naruto's habits first and foremost.

"Shouldn't you be asking Boss that?" protested the clone.

It was not supposed to be answerable to Boss' friends. Besides, it was still working on the whole keeping-secrets-thing. What was it supposed to do when it wasn't the one who would be sticking around to deal with the consequences of anything said?

"Was it because of Akatsuki?"

The clone turned a betrayed look onto Kakashi.

"Kakashi-_sensei_," it whined pitifully. "You should ask _Boss._"

"He's not here," Kakashi replied easily. "You are. I'll take what I can get."

The clone huffed as he shifted Kaito's weight in his arms.

"Yeah," it said in clipped tones. "It was because of Akatsuki."

"Then why didn't you return once Pein was dead?" Neji pressed.

"It didn't work."

Neji blinked in surprise. Kakashi stepped up to lead the small group around a blind corner. Once it appeared there was no one waiting to pop out at the Konoha team, he motioned for them to continue. The tunnel opened into a wide cave with stalagtites clinging to the rock overhead.

"What do you mean, it didn't work?" asked Kakashi as they walked. "Is Pein still alive?"

"No."

The clone immediately shook its head. Having been created less than an hour ago, it contained all the memories of the Boss' life up to that point. It could remember the battle in Amegakure.

"No, he's dead," the clone sighed. "The problem wasn't with Akatsuki."

Akatsuki didn't even exist anymore the way it once had. Nagato had been the instigator, along with Yahiko and Konan; and now Konan was the only one left. That one guy in the weird mask had just up and disappeared after threatening to take Sasuke away.

"What then?" demanded Neji.

The clone knelt down on the ground and laid Kaito gently on his back. It was strange understanding just how desperate Neji and Kakashi-_sensei_ were for information and not knowing what to do about it. Idly, the clone if Danzo would end up just getting rid of his precious weapon.

"_Jinchuuriki_ are supposed to be weapons," it finally murmured as its eyetooth sank into the fleshy pad of its thumb. "That's what he always thought."

"Who?"

"You don't—" Neji cut himself off as if rewriting his thoughts after they were out of his mouth. "Naruto _doesn't_ think like that."

The clone glanced up at him. It was true: Naruto didn't think like that. Which meant the clone didn't think like that. But Danzo thought like that.

"That was the condition," the clone spat out.

It ran through a quick series of hand signals and slammed its bleeding hand down on the ground so that it didn't have to speak anymore. The resulting plume of smoke nearly touched the points of rock that hung from the ceiling before it eventually faded to reveal an orange and black creature three times Kakashi's height. The giant toad glanced around, looking almost confused as it cast its eyes about the dark cavern, then finally looked down at its feet.

"Naruto-_nii-chan_?" the amphibian said, a clear question in his voice.

The clone nearly bent its neck backward looking up at Gamakichi, but it was glad to see a familiar face in the toad. Then, Gamakichi noticed the other two ninja with his summoner. It was funny the way a toad's eyes could widen even more than was naturally possible.

"Oh, crap," croaked Gamatkichi.

"It's fine, Gamakichi." The clone waved one hand hurriedly. "They already know."

Gamakichi made a displeased noise somewhere in the back of his throat.

"Pop's not gonna like that," he grumbled. "He thought you should tell the old lady first."

The clone grit its teeth at that pronouncement. Talking to Tsuande might have been all well and good about four years ago, but there was nothing Naruto could do now. Besides, what was the clone supposed to do about it?

"We need to get back to Konoha," it announced instead of responding.

Gamakichi pursed his wide mouth into a frown as he 'humphed.' The clone knelt down next to Kaito's body and placed two fingers gently on the boy's neck, just to check.

"Sakura-chan needs the antidote—"

The words suddenly stopped coming when the feeling of being tugged spread throughout the clone's stomach. It recognized the feeling only because Naruto was notorious at making clones. Naruto knew what his clones felt just before they dispelled, so the clones knew what it felt like, too.

"Oh, shi—"

That was all it managed to get out before the body made of nearly solid chakra and enough blood for a convincing death felt a swift stab in its stomach and dissolved into nothingness.

**o0O0o**

Naruto reviewed all the memories that had just flooded into his brain thanks to his _kage tensei_ and decided he probably couldn't have given the clone a few extra minutes of existence—despite the bad timing. Kakashi and Neji wouldn't be that happy to discover their partner had just gone up in a cloud of smoke. At least Gamakichi was there to make sure everyone got to Konoha safely.

A snake bared its fangs at Naruto, forcing him to leap out of the way as he shot _hebi-teme_ a frown from beneath his mask. He could already tell he didn't get as much of a _senjutsu_ refill from his clone as he would have liked, but it would do. Besides, it wasn't like he was relying just on himself this time.

Sasuke stepped up and pinned the snake's head to the ground with his _kodachi_. Naruto could see the pale glow of _Raiton_ from Sasuke's blade cast shadows on the already dim floor of the cavern. Briefly, Naruto's mind wandered and thought about the way Kirabi used his eight swords in conjunction with his natural Lightning chakra. He wondered if Sasuke could learn something from the other remaining _jinchuuriki_.

"Naruto!"

Shikamaru's breathless call jerked Naruto's brain back to the situation at hand. The team leader's knuckles were white as he kept his hands tight in the position that accompanied his family jutsu.

"You'd better have a better plan than me holding him indefinitely," grumbled Shikamaru.

Naruto heard the strain in his friend's voice and hurriedly ran through his mental list of supplies. He hadn't brought any seals beyond his limited supply of _Kage Tensei_ seals. He had, at one point, been working on a seal that would freeze the chakra that the _Ten no Juuin_ gave off while it was embedded into Kaito's system, but Naruto didn't think that chakra was the same as Orochimaru's. And there was that one seal he thought was still in his pouch, but he doubted a stink bomb would do much of anything in this situation.

Barring those options, Naruto couldn't think of anything he had on hand that was strong enough to stop Orochimaru in his tracks. _Fuuinjutsu _was not something done well off the fly, like some of the other things Naruto tended toward. Orochimaru would have to be incapacitated before he was captured — or maybe Naruto would just cut off the snake's head and bring it back to Konoha.

"Working on it," Naruto called back to Shikamaru.

"Naruto!" Kiba growled.

Naruto hoped Kiba's growl was a sign that he was exasperated at Naruto's lack of plan rather a sign of pain or other trouble. But a glance told Naruto that Kiba was fine, if not a little breathless. Naruto shifted his attention back to the frozen Orochimaru.

"How surprising," Orochimaru chuckled. "You seem to have caught me."

Even from a distance, Naruto could see Orochimaru's hands and arms trembling with the effort of trying to free himself from Shikamaru's jutsu. Whatever Naruto came up with, he knew it had to be soon.

"We need to get closer to him," Naruto muttered to Sasuke. "How fast are you?"

Sasuke shot him a sideways glare without turning his head at all. Naruto fought the urge to roll his eyes and determined his next project when he got out of this situation: categorize all the different ways Sasuke had perfected his glare. Bastard probably spent his free time entirely new ways of calling someone stupid without words.

"I'm not that surprised to see you here, Raiden," Orochimaru continued in his oily voice.

Naruto had to bless his mask for hiding the fact that he was speaking to Sasuke. Not only did the mask hide his real face — since he had impetuously released his own _genjutsu_ seal — it also prevented Orochimaru from reading his lips. Could the snake even do that?

"Noboru-_kun_ was always convinced you would never join me," said Orochimaru.

"You should listen to him more often, then," Naruto shot back, wondering how he could get closer to Orochimaru faster.

He had a kunai in his pouch, Naruto realized suddenly. A special one with three prongs instead of the single straight blade.

"And if you are so dedicated to my destruction, it was natural that you should join with the village that most longs for my death."

Naruto stepped forward so that his back was to Sasuke.

"I don't know." Naruto shrugged his red-covered shoulders. "I think there's plenty of villages that want you dead. Suna hasn't liked you for years now."

He withdrew the kunai from the pouch on his right thigh and held it carefully behind his leg, so that his own body blocked Orochimaru's view of it. Naruto wasn't sure if the former Konoha-nin would recognize the weapon for what it was. Yondaime Hokage was, at one point, Jiraiya's student after all, and Orochimaru was, at one point, Jiraiya's teammate. Hopefully, _hebi-teme_ wouldn't see anything until it was too late.

"Take it," Naruto muttered at Sasuke in a low tone.

"Do I look like I need it?" Sasuke hissed back.

Naruto dared to glance over his shoulder so that Orochimaru disappeared from the line of sight the eyeholes in his mask afforded.

"Don't you remember teamwork, _teme_?"

Naruto's teeth clicked together as he tried to keep his voice low enough that Orochimaru wouldn't hear it. He turned his head back to Orochimaru and raised the kunai in his right hand slightly, a silent offering to the man at his back.

"You throw, I catch."

It was all the explanation Naruto was going to give, so Sasuke had better be happy with it, or else.

"You never were afraid to join with the underdogs, though, Raiden-_san_." Orochimaru's voice was starting to grate on Naruto's nerves. "Weren't you fighting for the wrong side in Ame no Kuni?"

"Depends who you think won," Naruto snapped.

Whatever information Orochimaru had on Raiden during Ame's civil war had to be patchy, Naruto knew. Even Ame's own records from that time had holes in them. What Orochimaru thought he knew, however he had gotten the information, Naruto wasn't worried about it. Now if he could just get Sasuke to stop being a pussy and grab the kunai that would let Naruto surprise Orochimaru.

"And you have kept a child of mine with you for two years," continued Orochimaru. "Knowing he contains my sign on his body."

Naruto's entire body tensed as he stared at Orochimaru.

"_Never_," he spat hatefully, "talk about Kaito as if he's yours."

Naruto felt the weight of the kunai lift from his fingers and clenched his newly free hand into a fist briefly before he sank his hand back into his holster. His first two fingers snagged two shiruken by the holes in the center of the throwing stars. He stepped forward, keeping Orochimaru's eyes on him.

Orochimaru, for his part, seemed suddenly much more interested in his conversation with Raiden than he had been. He stopped struggling against his shadowy bonds and fixed his attention solely on the man in the mask.

"Oh, ho?" Orochimaru's voice lilted curiously. "And what is the boy to you, Raiden-_san_?"

Naruto paused and actually considered his answer. His students were all many things. Mako was far too informal to be a son, but he was sort of a pesky younger brother who was always determined to outshine his older brother. He reminded Naruto far too much of himself for him to see the boy as anything other than family. Mei was almost too young to be a little sister, and she always seemed happiest when she was able to walk around with Naruto while he was in the Henge he had used in Hafuko — an older man with dark hair that was slightly graying at the temples — and Mei called him "_Tou-san."_ Probably the only thing that prevented Naruto from really thinking Mei was a daughter to him was the fact that he was sure he wouldn't make a good father. He was too young for it, and his own childhood hadn't taught him many lessons about what a father was like.

Kaito, strangely, was sometimes the furthest removed from Naruto's ability to identify with people. Unlike Mako, Kaito tended to shut down around people he didn't know or trust. It had been months after Naruto had first taken the boy back to Hafuko with him that he could get the kid to talk to anyone besides Naruto. Even Mako and Mei had trouble communicating with Kaito at first. But while he shut down around strangers, Kaito also idolized Naruto in a way Naruto both recognized and was wary of. He had seen some of the same thing in Haku. Haku was an extreme, of course, and Naruto knew now how unhealthy Haku's point of view had been. But Kaito still looked up to Naruto, to his _sensei_, in a way neither Mei nor Mako did. It made the weight of Naruto's responsibility feel that much heavier. But it didn't make Kaito any less family than Mako or Mei were.

Naruto curled the fingers of his right hand and heard the soft _clink_ as the shuriken brushed together.

"He is one of my precious people," Naruto finally answered.

With a sudden flick of his wrist, Naruto sent one of the shuriken sailing toward Orochimaru's face. As he had guessed, Orochimaru jerked violently and twisted his limbs like a contortionist. The dark hands that had kept him pinned slunk back to the floor as Shikamaru lost his grip on his jutsu. Orochimaru ducked away from the shuriken and looked up again to see a strangely shaped kunai sailing for him, courtesy of Sasuke's decision to act with Naruto.

Beneath his mask, Naruto grinned broadly in anticipation of his success, not to mention his chance to look absolutely cool. Focusing all his attention in the brief moments he had onto the seal that was wrapped around the handle of the kunai, Naruto felt his chakra search out its destination and anchored himself to where he knew he would be. Naruto reached . . .

And felt his fingers wrap around the kunai handle that had sailed past Orochimaru's head. Poised in midair, Naruto swung his right hand around. He still had the shuriken hooked into one finger, but even that would be enough to cut the snake's throat. Naruto saw his target at the back of Orochimaru's neck and swung.

The shuriken found purchase in soft tissue, and a splash of blood dotted the chin of Raiden's mask. Naruto froze, his left hand still holding his father's kunai, and stared at the pale, gangly arm that had suddenly appeared between him and Orochimaru.

The arm was attached to a boy about his height who had definitely _not _been there a moment ago.

"What the fu—"

Naruto didn't even have time to swear before the boy who had taken the hit for Orochimaru raised his non-injured arm and shoved Naruto hard enough to push him back into the wall of the cavern. _Great_, was the sarcastic thought that flitted through Naruto's head even as he felt his spine collide with the stone. Now _hebi-teme _was free of Shikamaru's jutsu, and no one was close enough to cut him open.

"Na— Hey!"

Naruto heard Kiba change his cry at the last minute and found the brain cells not too rattled to be thankful that Kiba had remembered his mask. Then, pale-gangly-guy was in front of his face with one hand around Naruto's throat, and Naruto was finding it hard to think at all.

"Your speed is impressive, Raiden-_san_," Orochimaru said in a distant tone—though that could have been due to a lack of oxygen going to Naruto's brain. "But I'm afraid my servants are loyal to the point of death."

"Servants?" Naruto ground out through his constricted windpipe.

Without turning his head, he managed to see just enough to catch a glimpse of Shikamaru and Kiba fending off a pale guy that could have been the twin of Naruto's attacker. Sasuke was already charging for Orochimaru, but Naruto didn't think that was a good idea.

"Perhaps you have heard of a group that called themselves 'Akatsuki'."

Naruto's eyes widened as the boy in front of him _changed_. His eyes lightened so that the whites dominated all color that had formerly been in the deadened eyes. The boy's lips pulled back to reveal sharp teeth that grit together in a snarl, and Naruto felt sharp nails prick the skin on his throat. The boy raised his free hand and curled his fingers into a claw-like grip.

Seeing what was coming, Naruto reached up and stabbed his kunai into the boy's extended arm in lieu of actually grasping the appendage with his hand. Then, Naruto snaked his other arm on the opposite side of the boy's arm and pulled in a way that would force the boy to turn away or risk having his arm broken.

Apparently, the boy chose to take the broken arm. Naruto felt the bones behind his hand snap as he yanked. The grip on his throat loosened enough for Naruto to jerk to one side, but not before he felt a searing pain stab through his right shoulder. With the pressure around his throat gone, Naruto pulled the kunai out of the boy's arm and jumped away, landing on the floor of the cavern beneath the ledge Orochimaru had stood on. Naruto straightened and concentrated on his enemy, who was now loose and bleeding from both arms.

Naruto watched in horrified fascination as the boy's broken arm straightened and reformed. Naruto immediately thought of one of Orochimaru's loyal ninja, long ago, that had the ability to pull the very bones from his body and use them as weapons. But then the bleeding hole Naruto had made with his kunai also sealed up, healing so fast, it was as if time was working backwards around the wound. Naruto blinked and noticed, for the first time, the way the boy held his body — loosely, with no tension in his muscles or indication of what he was doing. Naruto almost guessed this guy was under some form of Orochimaru's _Edo Tensei_, but then he saw the whisps of chakra floating around the boy's body.

The chakra was a poisonous green, not like the cool, healing green Naruto usually associated with Sakura and her _iryou jutsu_. Naruto's brain put all the physical characteristics together, but it was only after he saw the green chakra solidify and extend from the boy's back like a tail that Naruto gasped.

The boy looked like a _jinchuuriki_.

Orochimaru's servant charged again, and Naruto instinctively raised the kunai in his left hand to stop him. The kunai held one claw-like hand back while Naruto raised his right hand to grab his attacker's wrist. The chakra burned his bare skin, and Naruto flinched. He caught a glimpse of the boy's eyes and realized they weren't deadened as he had thought. The boy was lost to the demonic chakra. A low growl emerged from the boy's throat.

"You wanna play it like that?" Naruto demanded.

He had just as much power as this stinkin' kid.

Naruto caught the flash of red from the corner of his eye but dismissed it as a corner of his coat or something. He tightened his grip on the boy's wrist, not noticing that the strange, visible chakra didn't burn any longer. Naruto pushed forward, flinging the boy away with his strength alone. The boy flew backwards and cracked his head against the stone floor. Naruto growled and dropped his kunai to advance on the unmoving body.

A sharp cry caught Naruto's attention, and he glanced to his right. Orochimaru was fighting with Sasuke. Sasuke had his _kodachi_ raised above his head, but Orochimaru had summoned at least two large snakes that were in the process of pinning Sasuke down. One of the snakes held Sasuke's blade in its moth, preventing him from cutting through the snake's skin.

Naruto bared his teeth at Orochimaru. He wasn't _allowed_ to do that to one of Naruto's friends, much less the one Naruto considered a brother. He wanted to rip the snake's head off and let the blood fall where it would. Then he'd tear the damn snake's arms right out of their sockets—

Wait. _What the hell?_

Naruto stopped himself halfway between the struggling boy he had dispatched and the figures of Orochimaru and Sasuke, realizing with all the shock of an ice cube down his back exactly where his thoughts were coming from. He glanced down at his hands and saw claws where his nails should have been.

"_Kuso_," Naruto hissed behind his mask.

At least no one seemed to be able to see him. He didn't have the cloud of chakra surrounding him that usually accompanied one of his transformations, but he could still hear the bloodlust of the fox ringing in his ears, begging him to destroy something. Preferably something flesh.

Naruto took a deep breath and reached for his own chakra instead of the boiling rage of the fox. He snagged a shuriken from his pouch and, with a series of hand seals, he swung at Orochimaru and purposefully missed.

"_Fuuton: Kaiten Shuriken_."

The swirling blades, made all the sharper by the Wind chakra that surrounded them, sliced through the creatures wrapped around Sasuke and free the _kodachi_ above his head. Sasuke immediately swung his sword down and forced Orochimaru to bend his body unnaturally in order to get out of the way. Sasuke immediately glanced over at the direction the attack came from. Naruto hoped he wasn't leaking chakra anymore. At least not visibly.

Then, a surprising crash made everyone, Orochimaru included, look to the opposite end of the cavern. Naruto nearly groaned when he saw Gamakichi squatting on the boy that had been fighting Shikamaru and Kiba. Faint wisps of bring green chakra were fading out of existence from under Gamakichi's fat back legs.

"_Oi_," Naruto called angrily. "Get them outa here, ya big, fat lump!"

'Kichi was gonna kill him for that remark later, but he didn't want to give Orochimaru any more hints. The giant toad himself was probably enough of one, though. Why the hell was Gamakichi here?

The toad grunted, but he opened his mouth to obey, thankfully, without question. Sasuke jerked forward, ignoring the sudden appearance of the giant toad, and slashed at Orochimaru. Naruto quickly performed a _shunshin_ to get himself next to Sasuke before he could do any more damage.

"Get out of here," Naruto hissed in Sasuke's ear. "I'll take care of _hebi-teme_."

The fox's chakra was still close enough to the surface of Naruto's mind that he would have no problem accessing it for _Kamikaze_. The fox would probably be glad to help, too.

Sasuke spared Naruto's masked visage a withering glare.

"Not a chance," he spat.

"Go back to Konoha, _teme_." Naruto grabbed Sasuke's _jounin_ vest, fully intending to throw Sasuke back to Shikamaru if he had to.

In response, Sasuke lowered his _kodachi_ and hooked his own arm through Naruto's grip.

"Not without you," he said.

Part of Naruto's brain was aware enough of the irony to want to burst out laughing. The larger part of his brain was busy calling Sasuke by every colorful adjective he could think of.

"That's it," grumbled a deep, thick voice.

Naruto recognized Gamakichi's croak and looked back at the toad to reiterate getting his teammates back to Konoha. Before Naruto could say anything, though, he found himself with a faceful of slimy amphibian tongue. Naruto jerked his head up before he couldn't breathe and barely saw the cavern walls fly past him as Gamakichi retracted his tongue back into his mouth. Darkness swallowed up Naruto as he kept his hand fisted in Sasuke's vest.

"What the—"

Naruto heard Kiba's muffled cry seconds before it cut off and his body was encased in damp warmth.

**o0O0o**

Sakura's knees gave a sharp crack as she shifted her weight, but she ignored the discomfort that came from kneeling on Sasuke's ungiving floor as she ran her hands across Akamaru's barrel chest.

"Is he all right?" Mako pressed in closer to Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura ignored the blunt question instead of snapping at the kid. It wasn't quite his fault that Sakura was annoyed; he didn't know standing so close to her was so distracting.

"I need Hana-_san_," Sakura announced.

The poison was elusive. She almost thought it felt like the molecules of the poison were attaching themselves to Akamaru's blood cells. She couldn't isolate the foreign substance easily like she should have been able to. Inuzuka Hana was probably the most accomplished vetenarian to come out of the Inuzuka clan for generations, maybe upwards of seventy years. Sakura glanced away from the large dog to where Tenten stood ready to bolt while Chouji stood at her side, almost blocking her way with his body. His eyes were trained on Mako, as if he worried the boy had some unknown injury.

"I can find Hana-_san_ more quickly than anyone else here can." Shino stood up smoothly. "How? I am more familiar with the Inuzuka—"

"Just go!" Sakura interrupted Shino's self-explanation as another clump of poison slipped from her grasp.

Sakura focused on manipulating the thin stream of her healing chakra already threading its way through Akamaru's body. She needed a second person.

"Hinata," she called, "can you see the—"

A sudden crash shook the house's foundations, and Sakura pitched forward, nearly falling over Akamaru's body as she planted her palms on the _tatami _to catch herself.

"What was that?" Tenten demanded.

Sakura felt a small pair of hands grab her shoulders and pull her back upright. She glanced over her shoulder to thank Mako — even if she would only admit grudgingly that his closeness had been helpful — but the boy was staring past Sakura out the cracked paper door that led to a small garden beside the house. Sakura briefly followed his gaze and saw a mass of abnormally bright orange that seemed distinctly out of place near anything so traditional as Sasuke's house was.

"Hey!" Mako yelled and surged to the door.

Sai took up the boy's place beside Sakura while Mako flung open the paper door and ran into the garden.

"What is that?" Tenten mouth dropped open into an unsightly gape.

Chouji had surged to his feet with the sudden shake, holding his arms out to his sides as if he expected an attack. But his body stayed frozen as he stared outdoors.

"I think it's a frog." Chouji's voice was completely bewildered.

Realization flooded Sakura suddenly even as she tried to regain her grip on the poison in Akamaru's veins.

"It's a toad," she corrected quietly. "Naruto had — _has_ a contract with toads."

She almost cursed herself for mistaking the tense she used. Naruto was _alive_.

"Gamakichi!" Mako shouted up to the giant toad.

The animal was so large that Sakura couldn't actually see its head as it towered over the boy. The toad had to be at least as tall as Sasuke's house. Suddenly, Mako's next worried cry sent all thoughts from Sakura's worried mind.

"Kaito!" Mako sounded on the verge of panic. "What happened?"

Tenten seemed to rouse even as Sakura's eyes widened in horror at the boy's demand. The brunette tapped her friend on his broad shoulder.

"Chouji, c'mon," Tenten commanded and ran out the door.

Sakura squeezed her eyes tightly then opened them again and looked down at Akamaru with renewed fervor.

"Hinata, come help me," she ordered through gritted teeth.

Hinata hurried over to where Sakura knelt by Akamaru as Sai hovered over her. Obediently, Hinata knelt on Akamaru's other side, opposite of Sakura, and placed her hands over Akamaru's chest.

"Do you think N-Naruto-_kun _is all right?" Hinata almost whispered at Sakura.

Sakura didn't want to think about the possibility that more than just Akamaru could return to Konoha injured. She put her forefinger and thumb together in a pinch and fished out a thin stream of poison, barely the width of two molecules stuck together. At this rate it would take her longer than Akamaru had to remove the poison. The toxins would do too much damage to his cells before she could remove them.

"Here," the toad's giant voice suddenly boomed from outside. "It's the antidote for that medic-guy's poison. The guy with funny eyes said it was for the dog."

Hinata glanced up at the mention of funny eyes. Sakura immediately wondered when Kaito would have had the opportunity to run into a Hyuuga.

"_Buban Baika no Jutsu_," Chouji called.

Sakura could see a glimpse of Chouji's abnormally large hand extend upwards before shrinking back down in a light fist, clutching something important.

"What about Kaito?" Mako demanded from in front of the toad.

"I don't know about him, kid."

Sakura was surprised at how apologetic the toad sounded. She grasped another few grains of poison and silently commanded Chouji to hurry up with that antidote.

"I gotta go back," the toad said. "_Nii-chan_ is in trouble."

Sakura wondered if there was more than one toad that could help Naruto in battle. She wasn't that familiar with Naruto's summons, and Tsunade-_shishou_ tended to rely on Katsuyuwhen she summoned her slugs.

"What trouble?" Mako persisted.

"Don't know yet," the toad called back. "I think he might've died again."

Sakura's heart suddenly and inexplicably quailed. But then the toad disappeared in a cloud of smoke with no time to say anything else.

"Stupid toad!" Mako shouted from outside.

Chouji burst through the open door with a still figure in his arms. Sakura recognized Kaito and fought the urge to go to him as a patient. She already had her hands full. Tenten followed behind Chouji, one hand wrapped around Mako's arm to prevent him from following Chouji too closely.

"Tenten, bring me that antidote," Sakura commanded, once again in her element.

Tenten released Mako and grabbed something from Chouji as the young man laid Kaito's body gently down on the _tatami_ floor. As Tenten approached her, Sakura glanced up at Hinata.

"Hinata, go to Kaito and help him. Tenten will take your place."

Wordlessly, Hinata obeyed, nearly flying from her place beside Akamaru to take up a position by Kaito. Chouji remained kneeling by the boy as Mako sat by his friend's head.

"I gotta admit, Sakura, medical jutsu isn't my specialty." Tenten held up a glass vial.

Sakura snatched the vial from Tenten and rummaged in her apron for the appropriate needle.

"I just need you to do what I say."

She uncapped the needle with her teeth and inserted the point into the vial. Holding the vial upside down, she measured out a modest amount. In a perfect world, she would have time to perform an analysis on the supposed antidote and test it on an isolated sample of the poison. But she didn't have the time either to isolate the poison or to analyze the antidote. She would have to do both within the confines of Akamaru's body.

"Hold back his fur," Sakura instructed as she rested her free hand on Akamaru's neck.

Tenten brushed the dog's short fur out of the way, and Sakura plunged the needle into Akamaru's skin, finding a vein immediately. She put the empty needle down beside her and channeled her chakra to her hands again to see the result. Slowly but surely, the antidote was breaking down the poison in Akamaru's bloodstream.

"He'll be all right," Sakura announced. She raised her head and looked across the room. "Hinata?"

"He's not poisoned," replied Hinata immediately. "His _tenketsu_ have been shut down."

Sakura wondered why the Hyuuga would have found it necessary to confront Kaito.

"Can you find a way to reopen them?" she asked.

"I can't. He'll have to heal on his own."

As Sakura watched, keeping her hands on Akamaru's vital signs, Mako scowled at the boy he called his friend.

"Stupid seal," he muttered, as if he would have liked to curse the cursed seal itself.

Sakura's eyes flickered over Kaito's still form, but Hinata was blocking her view of the boy's neck and shoulder. She doubted there was much she could do for the boy anyway until his _tenketsu _were open again. Even then, Sakura had only made enough progress on the _Ten no Juuin_ to meddle with it after Raiden's own seal was removed. Thinking of Raiden immediately brought Sakura's thoughts back to Naruto. So much had happened, and she hadn't even seen Naruto yet. She hadn't confirmed for herself that he was alive and well and still had that same stupid grin that made his eyes crinkle.

_Please be all right,_ Sakura pleaded silently. _Please be all right._

**o0O0o**

When the light hit Shikamaru's eyes once again, he had to raise a hand to shield himself from the sudden brightness. Who knew it could get so dark inside a frog's mouth? Shikamaru jumped out of the gaping, toothless maw in front of him and landed on the green — and thankfully not damp — earth. He gave himself a moment to enjoy the feeling of solid standing ground under his feet. Traveling via the inside of a giant toad may be all well and good for Naruto, but Shikamaru was _not_ used to it.

Shikamaru turned over his shoulder in time to see Kiba, Sasuke, and Naruto all pour from the giant toad's open mouth. Naruto was the last to emerge, holding his broken mask in one hand. A large corner of it was missing near the red swirl that almost acted as a painted mouth, and the rest of the mouth was cracked from the top of the mask over the left eyehole down to the socket that allowed the eye to see out and then continued its jagged path to the missing piece. Naruto kept his face downcast, staring at the ground instead of his surroundings.

"Shikamaru!"

The jounin leader turned around again at the call and saw Kakashi emerge from the forest behind one of the trees, followed quickly by Neji. The boy, Kaito, was missing from their number, and Shikamaru hoped the boy was somewhere safe. He didn't think Naruto would leave without him. Shikamaru could hear a waterfall roaring in the distance, and there were far larger trees surrounding him than were typically found in Ta no Kuni. At least the giant toad was smart enough to deposit them somewhere inside their own country, Shikamaru figured.

Kakashi stood in front of Shikamaru and glanced quickly over the ragged bunch that had emerged from the toad's mouth.

"Orochimaru has at least half his army in his base," Shikamaru reported. "We had to retreat."

Shikamaru didn't say anything about the boiling, crimson chakra that had leaked slowly from Naruto. Oh, he had felt it; it was hard not to feel chakra of that strength and maliciousness. But that would start an explanation Shikamaru suspected Naruto wasn't ready to give. One quick glance over his shoulder let Shikamaru see Naruto studying his broken mask and for all appearances ignoring the conversation. Sasuke was not looking at Naruto with such determination that he was making his reluctance to acknowledge Naruto far too obvious. Kiba let out a scoff and turned to Kakashi with Shikamaru.

"We did what we had to, anyway," he announced in a decisive voice. "Let's go back to Konoha and get some reinforcements."

Despite Kiba's enthusiasm, Shikamaru doubted they would be attacking Orochimaru again any time soon. There were too many new factors to deal with first, including Naruto.

"Where's Akamaru?" Kiba demanded suddenly. "What about the antidote?"

"We obtained it," Neji announced calmly. "Naruto's summons brought the antidote and Kaito back to Konoha."

Naruto's head suddenly snapped up, proving he couldn't play ignorant as well as he thought he could.

"You did?" Surprisingly, Naruto directed his question to the brightly colored toad that loomed above him instead of toward any of his teammates.

"Your stupid clone disappeared before it could say anything," the orange and blue toad answered through his wide mouth. "I thought you were in trouble, so I came back."

A sudden frown crossed Naruto's face then disappeared before Shikamaru had time to dissect its meaning. He rubbed the pads of his fingers together and sighed. He needed an environment more conducive to thinking than this.

"Then we should go back to Konoha," Shikamaru said blandly.

"Great," muttered Naruto. He sounded as if someone had told him he was about to be executed.

"Would you rather run away again, _dobe?_" Sasuke hissed in Naruto's direction without looking at the other man.

Shikamaru was surprised when Naruto made no move to chew Sasuke out for the nickname. Not to mention the lack of indignation that Shikamaru thought Naruto would erupt in at the insinuation that he would ever run away from anything. Naruto only let his chin sink into his chest as his shoulders curled into his front, like he was trying to protect himself.

"It'd be easier."

Naruto sounded like he didn't actually want anyone to hear him admit the temptation to run. Shikamaru frowned, but he could understand. Most of the younger generation, the graduates of the Academy that had followed the Rookies — like the Konohamaru Corps — idealized Naruto's _nindo_. From the refusal to back down from a righteous fight to the declaration to protect those under one's care, whether it be one's teammates or the citizens of Konoha, the next generation of Konoha ninja were slowly turning into comrades first and ninja second. Naruto was an idol to them. Shikamaru briefly wondered what some of them would think of the proof that Uzumaki Naruto was really no more than a human who sometimes got tired.

"Well, since you didn't actually die in the line of duty, you are technically answerable to the Hokage of Konoha," Kakashi announced cheerfully. "So, you'll have to come back to Konoha."

Kiba huffed as he refolded his arms across his chest.

"Yeah, that's great and all," he said sullenly. "But how're we gonna tell everyone else that Naruto's . . ." He trailed off in a shrug as he glanced at Naruto's slumped form. "—y'know, alive?"

Naruto made no sign that he had heard the question or the conversation that centered around him at all. He sat down on the front — _flipper_, for lack of a better word — of the giant toad that was sticking around. Shikamaru didn't know much about summons, but a part of him suspected the animal wanted to be sure Naruto, his summoner, was all right just as much as the others did.

"Does anyone know besides us?" Kakashi demanded with his one-eyed gaze fixed on his wayward student.

Naruto raised one hand and rubbed the back of his neck tiredly. The top of his head was the only thing facing the Konoha team, so Shikamaru was at the disadvantage of not being able to translate Naruto's usually expressive face.

"Sakura-_chan_ probably does by now." Naruto's answer was somewhat muffled by the fact that he had his chin tucked into his chest somewhere. "I sent Mako and Akamaru to her first, and I told Mako to go to her if he had any problems. He wasn't supposed to come chasing after me."

Kakashi cocked his head slightly to the side as his eye creased in the way Shikamaru had eventually come to recognize as smiling.

"Hmm," Kakashi hummed thoughtfully. "Reminds me of someone."

Naruto's head snapped up, and his eyes stared right at Kakashi. Shikamaru at first thought Naruto was annoyed at being reminded of his own hotheaded brand of doing things. But the way Naruto stared at Kakashi was less defensive and more determined.

"I was stupid, Kakashi-_sensei_." Naruto glared at his former teacher. "My students aren't supposed to make my mistakes."

Kakashi had nothing to say to that, and Naruto was apparently done talking. Shikamaru opened his mouth to issue new orders when the toad, of all things, broke the silence.

"So, what do you want me to do now?" it asked Naruto, swiveling one round eye in its socket to peer at the small human on his webbed foot.

Shikamaru let out a slow breath the way he usually did when he was smoking. The only reason he hadn't lit up as soon as he was out of Orochimaru's cavern was because he hadn't wanted to smoke inside a toad's mouth. He'd probably give the thing asthma or something.

"We have to go to Hokage-_sama_," Shikamaru declared. "She'll know what to do."

Naruto was silent for a while then nodded and stood up. He looked ready to go once again, but then his face fell slack as his eyes widened. Shikamaru suddenly tensed and cast his senses around, worrying that Naruto had secretly sensed one of Orochimaru's goons approaching. But there was no one there. The waterfall still roared in Shikamaru ears as Naruto's face became more worried. Kiba immediately stepped forward and tried to reassure his friend.

"It'll be all right, Naruto." Kiba reached out and clasped one of Naruto's shoulders. "Tsunade-_sama_ is strong enough to withstand Orochimaru."

"It's not that," Naruto quickly said. "She's gonna put me in traction for the next ten years!"

Kiba laughed loudly and dropped his hand from Naruto's shoulder. Shikamaru sighed despondently. Whatever had happened in the cavern, it was good to know that some things about Naruto would never change.

Naruto turned and slapped his summons on one thick leg.

"Bend down, Gamakichi," he ordered briskly. "You're taking us to Konoha."

"Do we have to?" Kiba asked, all traces of amusement suddenly disappearing. "I don't wanna smell like sake-marinated frog."

"Hey!" The toad seemed to take offense to Kiba's statement.

"'Kichi can transport us to the Hokage Mountain," Naruto explained as he leaped onto the crown of the toad's head. "It'll be faster."

"I would almost prefer to walk," grumbled Neji.

Shikamaru almost smiled. He didn't think he'd ever see the day when Kiba and Neji would actually agree on something. He supposed the fact that they were riding on the toad's head instead of inside it was the only thing that kept Neji's complaints to grumbles.

As the rest of the team joined them on Gamakichi's head, Shikamaru caught a glimpse of Naruto's hand. The grip he had on his cracked mask had turned white-knuckled, rigid in its tightness. He was more tense than he had ever let on with his amusing complaint about Tsunade's inhuman strength. Naruto had learned to disassemble quite well if that had been intentional, Shikamaru thought with a frown. Then, Naruto called out to the toad, and Shikamaru felt his body jerk as white smoke closed in around him.

**o0O0o**

Kiba blinked as the smoke cleared from his vision to reveal the landscape of Konoha laid out before him. His feet were still planted on the slight give of the toad's damp skin, but Naruto was still at his side, which was probably a good thing considering how worried he had seemed about Tsunade's reaction to him. As Shikamaru stepped forward to Naruto's other side, Naruto opened his eyes to reveal the strange irises that occurred every time he was "balancing."

"Akamaru's at Sasuke's house with Sakura-_chan_," Naruto announced suddenly.

"What about the antidote?" Kiba asked. "Do they have that?"

Naruto nodded slowly.

"Kaito and Mako are both there, so they must have it."

Kiba immediately turned to Shikamaru.

"I'm going there," he declared.

Kakashi laid one hand on Kiba's arm before he could take off.

"We should report to Hokage-_sama_ first," he said.

Kiba started to glare at Kakashi — the report could wait; in fact, the team didn't even really need Kiba to make the report. He hadn't done anything important or on his own that the others couldn't cover instead. Suddenly, Naruto tapped one foot against the toad's skin beneath them.

"Hey, Gamakichi," he called. "Disappear before you attract too much attention."

"I'm still tellin' Pop on you," muttered the toad.

"Yeah, yeah."

Naruto had barely muttered the words before the semi-solid foundation under Kiba's feet suddenly disappeared. With the summoned animal gone, Kiba fell through the air to the hard ground that made up the top of Hokage Mountain. The fall took him by surprise, and he struggled to land gracefully. After a half-flip and a somersault — or two — he ended up squatting on his knees. Kiba scowled when he saw that both Neji and Sasuke had somehow managed to land on their feet, standing straight as if nothing had happened. Kakashi was just straightening out of his crouch, with Shikamaru following quickly. Naruto had one knee on the ground with his other foot planted under him. He straightened and looked at Kakashi.

"I want to check on my students," he said.

It was hard to argue with him when Naruto looked like a cross between his old self and the crazy-strong guy that Genkei/Raiden/whoever had always portrayed himself as. Kiba glanced at Kakashi for his reaction.

"It wouldn't hurt to stop by, right?" Kiba asked when neither Kakashi or Shikamaru said anything. "It's like going to the hospital after a mission for the injured, except nobody knows about our injured."

He didn't want to say anything about Naruto's being alive, just in case that was still a secret. Besides, he didn't think appearing at the hospital was the best way to make the announcement. He was sure some of the staff would probably recognize Naruto immediately, for all the time he spent there over his ninja career. But Naruto wanted to see his students, and there was nothing wrong with that.

Kakashi's lone, uncovered eye traveled to Shikamaru. Kiba supposed Shikamaru _was _the leader of the mission, so he turned to the jounin for his final word.

"We'll go to the Uchiha Complex," Shikamaru finally announced. "Not like we'd get any of you to give the report otherwise."

That was a little harsh, Kiba thought. He was pretty sure Shikamaru could at least count on Kakashi and Neji to follow procedure. He and Naruto just wanted to make sure that the ones they cared about were all right. And Sasuke— Well, Kiba didn't think Sasuke was inclined to say anything, nor had he since they went into Orochimaru's lair. Maybe Sakura would be able to snap him out of it, Kiba thought as he jumped down from the mountain and into the city of Konoha. Sasuke was acting even worse than he had been on the return trip from Hafuko.

"What happened to your landscaping, Uchiha?"

Sasuke ignored the huffed question from the Inuzuka who wasn't really interested in an answer. He had a point, though. The area just to the side of the house Sasuke had been living in, along with Raiden — hell, _Naruto _— and Sakura, looked like a giant rock had fallen on it. But there was no evidence of a rock, jutsu, or any other lingering objects that could explain the flattened garden.

Sasuke briefly wondered how much that stupid giant toad weighed.

It was Naruto, not Kiba, who was the first one to open the paper door leading into the house. Sasuke peered over a red-cloaked shoulder and silently raised his eyebrows at all the people in his dwelling place. Sakura knelt on the living room floor with her hands firmly placed on Akamaru's body as Tenten held the dog's head still. Sai was hovering over the pair of them, peering down as if fascinated by animal healing. Slightly closer to the door leading outside, Hinata and Chouji had taken up positions on either side of Kaito, who was still unconscious. Mako was kneeling by the boy's head, staring down at his friend. Sasuke had never seen so many people at his own house.

Naruto rushed into the room and stopped short close to the doorway. His eyes flitted from Sakura to his students as if he couldn't decide where to go first. Kiba took the decision away from him when he bumped Naruto's shoulder on his way to Akamaru.

"How is he?" Kiba demanded immediately.

"Akamaru'll be fine," Sakura replied. "He just needs to rest. The antidote countered most of the poison. Shino just left to find your sister."

Sasuke watched Sakura's eyes lift to stare at the small party congregating in Sasuke's open doorway. Her eyes widened dramatically as her lips parted, her mouth hanging open.

"Naruto," she whispered, her voice nearly nonexistent.

Sasuke barely saw the tentative smile ghost across his face before it disappeared once again. The bright young man still held the white mask in his right hand. A line of blood trickled down the back of his hand, into the groove of his knuckles, and onto the white face of the mask, creating another red streak across the already-marred face.

"_Sensei_," Mako called.

Naruto abruptly turned away from Sakura and looked at his student. Sasuke watched both Chouji and Hinata glance up and stare in shock at the figure now standing in the living room. Like they had seen a ghost. Sasuke's face twisted into a frown as he tried not to remember all the different ways he had already seen Naruto die.

"How's Kaito?" Naruto strode to stand over Hinata as she gently rubbed her fingers over the boy's arms, massaging them.

Sasuke was actually surprised that Hinata remained upright with Naruto standing so close behind her. Chouji finally took pity on her and stood.

"He'll be fine once his _tenketsu_ open again," he said quickly.

Chouji ran his gaze down Naruto's figure and back up again, coming to rest on the familiar face that was only slightly changed with age. Naruto's expression stayed stuck in a mindless stare that didn't belong on his face outside of the slackness of death. Chouji didn't seem to mind; he just scoffed when Naruto didn't say anything.

"I should've known it was you," huffed Chouji. "Only you could rave about Ichiraku Ramen like that."

One corner of Naruto's mouth finally turned up into a sad half-smile.

"It's good ramen," he protested half-heartedly.

Naruto turned to look at his conscious student while Mako stared back at the man with more reluctance than Sasuke had ever seen Mako give his teacher.

"You're being Raiden again, _sensei_," Mako accused softly.

Naruto frowned for a moment then let his eyes turn, unfocused, on the floor.

"Guess so," he murmured.

Naruto glanced down at the mask in his hand then slowly raised it to his face. He kept the mask in place with a grip on the white chin, just below where the red swirl cut across the plain like a mouth. A pale streak of red danced its way up the chin from Naruto's fingers and joined the red paint before continuing up between the eyeholes that let out absolutely no light.

"Should I be acting scary now?" Naruto tilted his head slightly so that the mask stared out at the people waiting him, a crooked, red smile curling where his grin should have been.

Sasuke curled his hands into fists tightly and stared at the senseless mask.

"Is that how you hide, _dobe_?" Sasuke hissed.

The mask slowly turned to face Sasuke's anger as Naruto lowered the hand that held up the mask. But the white face stayed in place, blood slowly dripping off the broken edge. When the faceless figure was still silent, Sasuke stepped forward, his hands still balled into fists at his sides.

"It makes it easy for you to run away, doesn't it?" Sasuke snapped.

He could see Neji and Shikamaru both step closer to him from the corner of his eye, but he didn't care about them.

"I don't run away, _teme_," Naruto growled, finally sounding like Naruto.

"You did," Sasuke shot back. "You died."

"What?" Naruto raised both empty hands in a placating gesture that infuriated Sasuke. "I'm still alive, genius. Or have you seriously gone blind?"

Sasuke lunged forward with a speed he usually reserved for battle, charging an enemy with his hand full of lightning. He crashed into Naruto and slammed his body into the wall behind Naruto. Sasuke could hear the man before him grunt as the air was forcefully expelled from his lungs, but the mask prevented him from feeling any breath on his face. Sasuke shoved his forearm under Naruto's chin, pinning his throat to the wall, and reached up with his free hand to tear the mask off Naruto's face.

"You died," he all but growled in Naruto's face. "I _saw_ your body! You were _dead_!"

"Gonna be again 'f ya don't lemme go, _teme,_" muttered Naruto with his teeth clenched.

A pair of hands grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and wrenched him backwards. Sasuke's arms flew up, trying to throw the hands off him. He released Naruto and turned to face Neji, who stared back at him accusingly. Sasuke shrugged off the other man's eyes and tried to ignore the way everyone else in the room was staring at him. It was _his_ house; they had no right to be there.

"How the hell are you alive?" Tenten finally broke the tense silence.

Sasuke refused to turn and look at Naruto. He blinked quickly so he wouldn't see Naruto's body, stabbed and sliced and bleeding in his arms. But looking at the shocked faces of Tenten and Sakura didn't help calm the blood that pounded in his ears, either. The sudden _flick_ of a metal joint drew Sasuke's attention to Shikamaru, who still stood in the open doorway overlooking what had once been a garden. Shikamaru snapped his lighter closed again and plucked the lit cigarette from his mouth.

"He found a way to improve on _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_," Shikamaru announced coldly. "His clone took the death for him."

"Naruto, you're bleeding," Sakura murmured.

Of their own accord, Sasuke's eyes quickly darted down to Naruto's right hand. The blood that escaped his dark sleeve and ran down his fingers seemed too little an amount for the wound Sasuke knew had to be on Naruto's upper arm. Naruto only raised his bloody hand and swiped it across his coat.

"No," he said shortly. "It's fine."

The red blood disappeared in the crimson fabric, leaving hardly a damp spot to prove that Naruto had ever been injured. Sasuke glared at the young man. _Stupid, stubborn idiot._

Sakura rose to her feet and took a step menacingly closer to the wall.

"Naruto," she began in a tone that had always preceded a good smack on the head.

"It's fine," Naruto repeated more forcefully. He rubbed one hand across the back of his neck and heaved a heavy sigh. "I should've stayed and killed _hebi-teme_. I coulda used _Kamikaze_."

"No," Mako immediately retorted. A fervent, if not quiet, denial.

Neji faced Naruto with a frown creasing his aristocratic brow.

"Why are you so upset about this?" he asked.

"I failed the mission," Naruto muttered.

"Not the first time."

Sasuke wasn't even sure where the words had come from. He supposed it was too much to hope that no one had heard him. No, of course, in a room full of ninja, that would be practically impossible.

"The consequences are higher now," Naruto bit back in the same quiet tone as Sasuke.

Naruto finally faced Sasuke with a grim look across his face.

"I told you," he said, "I only get my missions from one source. Tsunade never told me to kill Orochimaru."

"Who did?" Kakashi spoke up from his position behind Sasuke, watching the conversation unfold.

Naruto glanced down at the straw-mat floor and didn't respond. Sasuke watched Naruto's brows knit together as if he were trying to fix some demanding puzzle.

"Was it Danzo?" Sai asked abruptly.

Naruto's eyes jerked up to the dark young man who had briefly been his teammate. Emotions darted through his eyes too fast for Sasuke to identify before Naruto lowered his head again.

"Yeah," answered Naruto.

He looked different without his ever-present _hitai-ate_. Whenever Sasuke had ever remembered Naruto — willingly or not — it was with the symbol of Konoha permanently attached to the boy's forehead. That headband was a part of Naruto. It was the only part of Naruto that Sasuke had allowed himself to keep. This Naruto in front of him, with a bare forehead, looked strange and out of place.

"We need to go to Tsunade-_sama_," Shikamaru announced into the silence.

Sasuke glanced at the supposed leader of the team and fought back a snappish urge to tell Shikamaru to stop smoking in his house. Naruto straightened and squared his shoulders.

"Right." He nodded once and then bent down so that his face was level with his student's. "Mako, go take Kaito to the hospital. I'll be there soon."

"Better be," muttered the boy.

"Neji, stay with the kids," Shikamaru commanded as he turned to leave the house for the open air again.

Kiba suddenly stepped forward, his posture reluctant even to someone like Naruto's eyes.

"You don't need me, do you?" asked the Inuzuka hopefully.

"No, we can give the report." Shikamaru shook his head lazily.

Kiba nodded eagerly and turned back to Akamaru's body, still laying on Sasuke's floor. Kakashi disappeared in a swirl of leaves, and Shikamaru jumped up to the roof of the house, presumably to travel the rest of the way to Hokage Tower by rooftop. Sasuke turned to demand Naruto to start moving. He found Naruto staring at something with his normal amount of dedication, if not a little more melancholy. Following Naruto's gaze, Sasuke saw the white and red mask lying on the floor in two pieces. His toss must have aggravated the crack enough for the mask to snap.

"Naruto."

Naruto suddenly looked up when Sakura spat out his name hesitantly. She took a step toward Naruto with her fist threateningly.

"If you even _think_ about disappearing again, I'll . . . I'll . . ."

The fact that she apparently couldn't think of a suitable punishment was somewhat negated by the tears Sasuke saw gathering in her eyes. He really hoped she wasn't about to cry. Sasuke was not good around tears.

"Don't worry, Sakura-_chan_." Naruto grinned widely. "I'll be sure to let you hit me at least once. I promise."

He was still smiling when he disappeared in the same _Shunshin no Jutsu _that Kakashi had used.

"_Baka_!" Sakura called after him despite the certainty that Naruto wouldn't be able to hear her.

Sasuke frowned at the look on Sakura's face. She was trying too hard to look annoyed all the while tears were spilling down her cheeks and the others in the room — with the exception of Sai who stood by her side — steadfastly ignored Sakura's messy display. Sasuke turned away from them all and gathered the chakra necessary to transport himself from his own living room to the Hokage Tower. He was just as eager as everyone else to hear what Naruto had to say about his latest so-called mission.

**o0O0o**

Tsunade eyed the bottom drawer of her desk and wondered how likely it would be for Shizune to enter the Hokage office just as Tsunade withdrew her secret stash of sake. Shizune always had a way of somehow knowing just when her greatest teacher was slipping in her less-than-reputable habits.

Throwing what little caution she had to the winds, Tsunade pulled open the wooden drawer and withdrew the small bottle of rice wine from inside. She tipped back her head and raised the bottle to her lips.

"Tsunade-_sama_!"

Tsunade choked on the liquid already in her throat, the alcohol burning her esophagus as she coughed and lowered the bottle back to her desk. Quickly swiping one hand over her damp chin, Tsunade shot a glare at Shizune, who stood in the doorway of the large office.

Surprisingly, Shizune ignored both her mistress's annoyance at getting caught and the alcohol that had made an appearance on the desk.

"Shikamaru-_kun_ is back with Kakashi-_san_ to give their report," Shizune exclaimed breathlessly. "Uchiha-_san _is also with them."

Shizune paused long enough to draw a deep breath before she continued.

"So is Raiden."

Tsunade sat up straight in her chair, sake completely forgotten for the moment.

"Send them in," she ordered coolly.

Tsunade quickly replaced the bottle of sake in her drawer as Shizune slipped out the door to fetch the ninja in question. Tsunade folded her hands on top of her desk and stared at the door, fully prepared to be the Godaime Hokage.

Raiden had better be prepared to give her some descent answers.

The door cracked open again to admit Shikamaru, with Kakashi following close behind him. Shikamaru had a half-gone cigarette in his mouth and already had a second one ready between his fingers. The mission must have gotten complicated if Shikamaru was considering chain-smoking already. Tsunade briefly wondered how likely it was that Orochimaru was still alive. She should've placed a bet before the team returned to Konoha. Then, at least she would know what to expect.

Behind Kakashi, Raiden strode into the room with his hands tucked into his pockets, parting the red and black coat he habitually wore. The mask was missing from his general outfit, but his face was the same one Tsunade had first seen. A head of mousy-brown hair and light gray eyes in a slightly round face that was inclined more toward smiling than frowning. The face of a man who had demanded a safe place for his kids rather than any personal benefit.

It sounded like something Naruto would do.

Sasuke followed Raiden into the office, his face looked into an icy stare that refused to acknowledge anyone. Tsunade only knew Sasuke had joined up with the team going after Raiden after the other four ninja had already departed. She wasn't even sure if Sasuke knew who Raiden really was, if indeed both Sakura's suspicions and the young Mei's memory were correct. Tsunade leaned forward intently.

"What's your report?" she demanded.

Shikamaru plunked the cigarette from his mouth and blew the smoke from his lungs.

"Orochimaru was at the base near the Mogami River," he said calmly. "We were unable to kill him."

Tsunade grimaced, but she wasn't all that surprised by the news. Sarutobi-_sensei_ had failed to stop Orochimaru twice before his death. Even she and Jiraiya hadn't been able to defeat their former teammate in battle. Orochimaru wasn't the type to be defeated by a simple assassin, and as strong as Tsunade knew her ninja were, she didn't think Orochimaru would succumb to anything less than a battle like the one Pein had caused four years ago.

So, Tsunade simply nodded and stared at the figure of Genkei, who held himself completely relaxed except for a bit of straightness in his shoulders that looked as if it didn't belong.

"Did you find out anything useful on your mission?" Her question addressed the entire group, but she kept her eyes on the brown-haired man standing to the side of Kakashi.

Shikamaru turned his head to one side and stared at Genkei.

"Drop the Henge," he ordered.

Tsunade tensed then relaxed all her muscles to make sure she appeared unaffected by the possibility that Genkei, Raiden, was really—

"Fine," Genkei sighed as he ran one hand through his short hair.

He halted the nervous gesture abruptly and brought his hands together in front of him. Wordlessly, he let the solidified chakra surrounding his skin dispel into a cloud of useless smoke before it disappated into the air. What was left behind was a face Tsunade had only seen twice in the last four years. Both times had been on a small girl trying to reproduce the face of her _sensei_, and both times had only been in the last twenty-four hours. Mei had gotten a few details wrong. Naruto didn't seem as tall as she had made him out to be.

"Hey, Tsunade-_baa-chan_," Naruto greeted, a tentative smile crossing his lips as he raised one hand to wave at her nervously.

"Prove it." Godaime Hokage managed to grind out from between clenched teeth.

Naruto threw up his hands in an exasperated gesture.

"Ah, come on," he whined. "I won your necklace in a bet when I pulled off Rasengan in a week, and I broke it when the fox nearly got out fighting the guy who wanted Sasuke."

Tsunade sat with her mouth tightly closed. All of those things were true, and they were also the kinds of things Naruto would bring up to prove his identity: personal things, nothing like facts or statistics.

Suddenly, Naruto raised his hand and held up one finger in a command for patience.

"Wait a minute."

Naruto untucked his shirt and pulled up the hem with one hand so that the shirt stretched just above his stomach. Tsunade felt the brief, sharp flare of chakra a moment before the inky black design seemed to appear of its own accord around Naruto's navel. The seal swirled from the outside symbols deeper into Naruto's core, like a whirlpool drawing everything to the center of things. Tsunade glanced up into Naruto's face, and he smiled so hopefully it was almost painful.

"See?" he urged. "No one else has one of these, right?"

He let his shirt fall back down and got a sudden look of realization on his face that made him look that much more like the bratty kid Tsunade had known.

"Oh! I could call a toad here to tell you, too," he said excitedly. "They've been with me this whole time. Or I could go into sage mode, like Jiraiya, right?"

Tsunade held up her palm to halt Naruto's excited rant. Now that Naruto had realized he could pull out things no one but him should be able to do, he was coming with all kinds of proof. And when had he ever learned _senjutsu_ from Jiraiya? But Tsunade just sank back into her chair heavily and stared at the ghost-made-flesh in front of her.

"How?" she breathed.

The smile fell from Naruto's face completely. He swallowed once, hard, and faced Tsunade while the rest of the team watched him exclusively. Even Sasuke's attention seemed pointed at Naruto.

"I didn't die," he said. "I found a way for a _kage bunshin_ to take my place."

"I had my suspicions about that shortly after Raiden came to Konoha," Shikamaru suddenly interjected.

Tsunade shot the jounin a sharp look. If Shikamaru had had his suspicions, he should have reported them directly to her. Especially if they concerned something as serious as this. Shikamaru didn't seem to notice his Hokage's displeasure. He reached into his pocket and withdrew a scrap of paper.

"I found this seal in Naruto's file," explained Shikamaru as he stepped forward and laid the paper down on Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade studied the scrap of paper; it wasn't much to go on especially since she had never seen it in the few weeks after Naruto's supposed death. It looked mostly like a summoning contract.

"Reverse summoning?" Tsunade postulated.

"Something like that." Naruto nodded eagerly and raised his hands to lace together and rest behind his head. "I got the idea from the toads."

Tsunade wondered at Naruto's creativity. Somehow he always managed to pull ideas out of the craziest places _and_ make them work. Shikamaru suddenly frowned suspiciously and looked back at Naruto.

"That time I thought you were training with the Rasengan," Shikamaru proposed the way he would state a theory, "you were working on your clones?"

Tsunade watched Naruto nod and matched up what she had heard four years ago with Shikamaru's words now. She knew Shikamaru and Naruto had grown somewhat close after the mission to find Uchiha Itachi had actually resulted in the retrieval of Uchiha Sasuke. Naruto had come home, triumphant and jubilous at the prospect of keeping his promise and reuniting his team, only to find that his mentor had been killed by Akatsuki. If it weren't for Shikamaru, Tsunade had been afraid that Naruto's sole purpose would hinge on Sasuke, and that wasn't healthy.

After Naruto's supposed death, Shikamaru mentioned once that Naruto had been spending most free of his free time outside of Sasuke's hospital room at the training grounds. Shikamaru had thought then that he was just trying to improve his Rasengan, preparing for the next time Akatsuki came back. Naruto lowered his hands from his head and looked at Shikamaru seriously.

_ "Kage Tensei_," he explained. "I needed a way to make _Kage Bunshin_ more durable so I could face Pein on my own. As long as the seal stays intact, the clone won't dispel."

"But it can die," protested Kakashi.

Kakashi's expression hadn't changed since the subject of Naruto's new jutsu had come up, at least from what Tsunade could see. It was a bit difficult to read a man who kept the majority of his face covered, but Kakashi generally exuded a sense of either amusement or boredom. Now, his one eyebrow was drawn into a slight frown as his jaw set in a firmer line then was usually visible beneath his mask.

"Yeah," Naruto agreed hesitantly.

"There weren't any seals on any of your clones, Naruto."

Kakashi _would_ have noticed that part of the jutsu, Tsunade realized. With his Sharingan eye, he should be able to see the chakra an active seal used.

"Not on, Kakashi-_sensei_," Naruto explained intently. "Inside it."

Tsunade frowned, trying to work out the mechanics of _that _new information. From the looks of the other ninja in the office, everyone else was trying the same thing. Tsunade could practically see the gears turn in Kakashi's mind, while Shikamaru bore a puzzled frown on his face. Naruto burst into a wide grin, the kind usually reserved for a magnificent prank.

"It was a spitball!" he laughed. "I rolled the seal into a paper ball so my clone could swallow it."

He sounded absolutely delighted at the fact that he had been able to stump such prestigious geniuses. Kakashi shook his head while Tsunade lowered her face into her palms dejectedly. Naruto smiled so wide his eyes scrunched up.

"Now I _know_ you're Naruto," Kakashi sighed, as if he hadn't been sure before. "Only you would turn a prank into an _kinjutsu_."

"Huh?" Naruto tilted his head to one side as if that would make it easier to read Kakashi's half-masked face. "It's not that bad."

"You still get all the experiences of your clone, don't you?" Kakashi returned.

Tsunade immediately saw where Kakashi was going, while Shikamaru's closed-off expression hinted that he knew exactly what the results of such a line of thought would be.

"Well, yeah," answered Naruto reluctantly.

"So, every time you dispel a clone that's died, your mind applies the injuries the clone experienced to you," Shikamaru said coldly.

Tsunade laid her palms down flat on her desk and pushed herself to stand.

"I am hereby declaring _Kage Tensei no Jutsu_ a _kinjutsu_ in the laws of Konoha," she declared officially.  
That done, she slowly circled her desk and came out on the other side, walking slowly toward Naruto. The young man's eyes widened dramatically, and Tsunade almost thought he would start protesting what he had to know was coming. She had never been afraid to reprimand the boy when he had needed it; the kid was too much like Jiraiya sometimes.

Tsunade raised her fist, fully prepared to punch Naruto for pretending to be dead and _not_ telling anyone, for keeping away from his home for four whole years, and for neglecting to let anyone know of his return. It was basically only chance that brought him back, since Tsunade had only called for seeking Raiden as an ally because he happened to be an enemy of Orochimaru. Naruto had put her through the hell of thinking another person that she loved was dead. But then, Naruto just screwed his eyes shut and bowed his head as if accepting the inevitable.

He looked pathetic.

Tsunade lowered her hand slowly so that it rested on Naruto's head. Despite the fact that Naruto had always been short, he nearly came up to Tsunade's eye-level. Jerking slightly, she pulled the young man toward her and wrapped her arms around him.

"You big dummy," she murmured as she hugged Naruto tight enough to squeeze the breath out of him.

Before Naruto could return the embrace, Tsunade let him go and backed up again, pretending her eyes weren't at all damp from the tears she refused to shed. Naruto stared at the floor with no little amount of dedication as he absently scratched the back of his head.

"We have another issue." Shikamaru broke through the thick silence in the office.

Tsunade raised her eyes to the jounin team leader, squaring her shoulders and preparing for more information on the dark and dirty deeds her former teammate was up to once again.

"Danzo knows that Naruto is alive," Shikamaru announced. "And he has been giving Naruto missions apart from Konoha."

Stunned, Tsunade looked back at Naruto, hoping for some kind of confirmation. The only hint she got was the way Naruto's face, usually so open to expressions, had shut down into a cold mask that was every bit as helpful as the ceramic mask he usually wore. His right hand was balled into a fist, and the only emotion that managed to slip through the ice that had settled over his feature was a deep and dark pain. His eyes flickered to Tsunade briefly. Whatever emotions he was hiding within himself had turned his cobalt eyes a dark blue, like still, deep water.

"I'm sorry."

* * *

A/N: Between the explanations, the fight scenes, and the falling action after said fight scenes, I feel like breaks in this chapter were few and far between. But, as I have it published finally after quite a long break, I hope you will forgive me.

I have re-found my beta. Or more like Rawrmander re-found me, for which I am incredibly grateful. Thank you, too, to all those who offered to beta for me in Rawr's absence. It feels so good to be loved.

Next chapter will be full of more explanations and the consequences of the discovery of Raiden (Naruto!) by his friends and the leader of his village. And they get to hear how evil Danzo is. If I don't have the chapter ready by the end of the month, I promise to have at least a teaser. There is a scene coming up that I have been looking forward to writing for about three chapters now.

Sincerely,

Fia

_Bubun Baika no Jutsu_ – Partial Multi-Sized Technique; an Akimichi specialty in which one portion of the body grows in size, usually the arm and hand so as to deliver more powerful blows. Also mentioned in the prologue, but I thought I'd remind you.

_Edo Tensei _– Resurrection to the Impure World; seriously, one of Orochimaru's favorite techniques. Basically, Edo Tensei involves the summoning of dead souls from the afterlife back into the real world.

_Fuuton: Kaiten Shuriken _– Rotating Shuriken; this technique appeared in one of the Naruto movies (which I tend to avoid), but it was Fuuton, and Naruto needs some more techniques. Using Wind chakra to simulate spinning disks and then launching these disks at the target like shuriken, I don't think this is beyond Naruto's abilities.


	14. In Which He Promises

Chapter 13: In Which He Promises

"_There is melancholy in the wind and sorrow in the grass."_

~ Charles Kuralt

**o0O0o**

Orochimaru surveyed the cavern that acted as the largest meeting place in his Mogami base. There were at least five Oto-nin, all of whom had the latest incarnation of the _Ten no Juuin_, scattered about the floor of the cave and trying to repair the damage the battle had done. Parts of the wall were scorched where Sasuke_-kun_ had unleashed his _Katon_ jutsu, and the two experiments Orochimaru had expected to be most proud of were both still unconscious. One from the strength of a god of thunder: a strength Orochimaru had always wanted to possess. The other had been knocked out simply by the force of being _sat_ upon be a giant toad. _A toad!_

Orochimaru had been shocked when the animal made its sudden appearance. He thought for a moment that his old teammate had come back from the grave just to spite Orochimaru. But Jiraiya had never cared for Orochimaru's . . . interests; and Orochimaru was well aware of Jiraiya's supposed strengths and abilities. Coming back from the dead was not one of them.

Besides, there had been other clues. A man claiming someone Orochimaru had already marked, labeling the boy a "precious" person. The chakra that had seeped out of the thunder god, barely visible, and yet utterly recognizable to anyone who had been in Konoha twenty years ago. And finally, as if the argument needed any further encouragement, there was the kunai Orochimaru held delicately in his hand.

Orochimaru had never had much contact with Namikaze Minato except as the student of his idiot teammate and later as an impudent brat who gained power too easily. Konoha was happy with him as the Yondaime Hokage simply because they saw him as a war hero. No one objected to his appointment to the office despite his obvious youth. Orochimaru didn't know his strengths as well as he knew Jiraiya's. But even he could recognize the kunai Raiden had left behind. Perhaps those who had described Raiden-_sama_ as a ghost were right. They were just thinking of the wrong kind of ghost.

"_Yondaime no isan_, indeed," Orochimaru scoffed.

"A legacy?"

Orochimaru turned to the steadily approaching presence he had felt hours ago.

"How good of you to join us, Noboru-_kun_," he hissed deliberately.

The young man looked none the worse for the blood that stained his upper leg and the obvious bruising on his neck and arm. Despite his wounds, however, Orochimaru could tell his current lieutenant had never been in any danger of bleeding out. Nothing that would have prevented him from appearing at his master's side.

"I was occupied," Noboru-_kun_ replied calmly.

"Oh?"

Noboru shifted at Orochimaru's prodding then looked at the older man from the corner of his eye.

"I assume you caught wind that Raiden-_sama_ was here," Noboru prompted.

For a moment, Orochimaru wanted desperately to throttle his apprentice.

"I did."

"So were his students," continued Noboru. "I thought I could use the boy from Asahi to entice Raiden-_sama_ into a more controllable position."

Orochimaru faced the young man beside him with an incredulous look.

"You spent your time chasing after a boy who only deserves to be thrown away?" he demanded.

"He still has the _Ten no Juuin_ on him." Noboru-_kun_ looked genuinely puzzled. "Were you no longer interested in using him?"

Orochimaru pressed the lines of his teeth together. At one point in time, the boy from Asahi might have been a good container to house Orochimaru's soul in the next three years. The boy _was_ Orochimaru's type—if they had the right bone structure to begin with, he rarely had to make major adjustments to his face—and he had the potential to be strong. Orochimaru had no intention of telling Noboru that he was as likely to hold on to that boy as he was to Sasuke-_kun_. Perhaps less now that he knew that _brat_ of Jiraiya's had a hold of him. Orochimaru only hummed in a careful manner as he turned away from Noboru.

"Were you able to capture him?"

"No," answered Noboru dejectedly. "Raiden-_sama_ prevented me. I retreated."

Noboru gave no further explanation for his failure, and Orochimaru was inclined to believe him. He had had the problem of trust come up with his relationship with Kabuto. Kabuto had a tendency to lie through his teeth, and smile while doing so. Noboru, quite contrary to Kabuto, did not often lie. He was honest, even when telling Orochimaru that he would prefer the one-time Snake Sannin to stay out of Noboru's experiments. So, Orochimaru had promised not to interfere with Noboru's research on Raiden.

Orochimaru, of course, had no intention of keeping his promise.

"I did find, however," Noboru continued in a thoughtful voice, "that Raiden-_sama_ uses some form of the cloning technique to keep himself alive."

Orochimaru clenched the kunai in his hand tightly and refused to look at Noboru. That would be too much of a confirmation to the young man.

"Or perhaps they were summons." Noboru was speaking more to himself by now than to Orochimaru. "It did disappear when I poisoned him."

Orochimaru raised his hand abruptly and flung the weapon toward the floor of the cavern. The oddly-shaped kunai pierced one of the shinobi crouching on the stone floor. The boy fell to the ground with the rounded handle of the kunai jutting out of his back. Orochimaru lowered his hand slowly again, relishing the feeling of sudden anxiety from the young man beside him.

It made him feel slightly better.

"Send word to all our bases within Ta no Kuni," he ordered Noboru. "All troops must report to Asahi by tomorrow night. It's time I purged myself of these bothersome pests."

Orochimaru turned to leave, watching Noboru nod silently as he passed by the young man.

"And fetch that kunai for me."

He perhaps shouldn't have thrown it, but it _had _helped. Orochimaru considered the weapon briefly as he slunk deeper into the depths of his fortress. He had never been that interested in Namikaze's techniques, but perhaps it was time to look at them again.

The man's son obviously had found a use for them.

**o0O0o**

"What do you mean, Danzo knows about Naruto?" Tsunade demanded coldly.

Kakashi would have shivered if he hadn't been so intent on Naruto's figure. From the defensive set of the young man's shoulders, Kakashi had a feeling Naruto didn't even want this conversation to take place. But both Shikamaru and Sasuke seemed determined to hear an explanation. Not to mention Tsunade's ever-growing anger.

Tsunade fixed her eyes on Naruto's hunched form until Kakashi was sure she was going to bore a hole in Naruto's head.

"He knows?" she repeated.

"Yeah, he's sneaky like that." Naruto's joke fell flat as his voice remained tense.

"Has he always known?"

Kakashi was pretty sure Tsunade was only angry at Danzo, but he also knew how intimidating Godaime Hokage could be when angered. Naruto seemed to take it well.

"I don't think he did at first." He shrugged. "It was part of the deal."

"What deal?" demanded Shikamaru.

Shikamaru's cigarette was close to burning out, but the genius made no move to replace it. Naruto spared his friend a glance and then continued staring at a point on the wall just over Tsunade's left shoulder.

"My life for Sasuke's," Naruto answered shortly.

"What?"

Tsunade turned her head to glare accusingly at Sasuke, as if he had caused Naruto's supposed death himself. But Sasuke was too busy staring at Naruto, his expression caught somewhere between aghast and irate. Naruto didn't seem to notice either of them, continuing his explanation as if he were simply giving a mission report.

"Danzo was the biggest opponent against Sasuke coming back to Konoha, _baa-chan,"_ he reminded Tsunade with a deliberate wave of his hand. "I almost had _O-jiji_'s old teammates convinced — y'know, those two old fogies that think they know everything?"

Part of Kakashi wanted to grin at Naruto's discription. Apparently for all that Raiden was respected, Naruto hadn't changed in mannerisms all that much. Kakashi supposed the 'two old fogies' would be Himura-_san_ and Koharu-_san_, who were still on the council simply because of their age and supposed wisdom, having seen everything from the Second Shinobi War on. Tsunade had had her share of disagreements with them, especially over Naruto's involvement with Akatsuki and getting Sasuke reinstated into Konoha's ranks. Naruto either didn't notice or chose to ignore the way Tsunade's eyes narrowed.

"But Danzo said that I was bringing more danger to Konoha than Sasuke," he continued, "because I was _jinchuuriki_."

Kakashi could only imagine how that conversation went. Naruto would do _anything_ to protect Konoha.

"So you died?" pressed Shikamaru, sounding for once unsure of the answer he had come up with.

"So I made a deal." Naruto shot Shikamaru a quelling glance that made Kakashi wonder when Naruto had started looking so much like Minato-_sensei_. "I said if I died, Akatsuki wouldn't have a reason to come after Konoha. But if I died, Danzo had to let Sasuke live 'cuz he would protect Konoha for me. So he did."

With Naruto facing Shikamaru, Kakashi was pretty sure Naruto didn't see all traces of color drain from Sasuke's face in record time. Shikamaru might have seen it, but he only nodded thoughtfully, considering this new information.

"Danzo stopped calling for Sasuke's execution after the funeral," said the Nara. "I had forgotten, but in with all the excitement, no one cared that much about Sasuke's trial anymore."

Shikamaru was right, of course. Even Kakashi had noticed the village grow suddenly much quieter after Naruto's death at the hands of Pein. It had been both one of his proudest and most tragic moments to see so many people gathered at a funeral to celebrate Uzumaki Naruto's sacrifice for his village. Naruto had finally received the recognition he had always been so determined to get. Even if he had never achieved his ultimate goal of becoming Hokage — a goal Kakashi thought Naruto wasn't so far off from at sixteen as most people thought he was — the funeral proved that Konoha no longer saw Naruto as a scapegoat for a power they didn't completely understand. And even so, wasn't a Hokage willing to die in defense of Konoha? Naruto had certainly fulfilled that aspect of his favored dream; several times over, it sounded like.

"That was the plan." Naruto nodded solemnly at Shikamaru's proclamation.

Sasuke continued to stare at Naruto's turned head.

"Why?" The normally-stoic man's voice sounded strangled and harsh, as if his very throat was raw.

Naruto finally turned back to Sasuke with a look that Kakashi couldn't quite place. It was closest, he thought, to the sheer incredulity Naruto would sometimes feel when he met someone who felt so very differently from his own viewpoint, and Naruto couldn't understand why. The look was tempered now on Naruto's older face; he seemed all too aware that not everyone felt as he did.

"I promised," Naruto said simply.

Naruto turned back to Tsunade calmly as Sasuke curled his hand into a fist so tight Kakashi wondered exactly who Sasuke was trying to strangle in his imagination.

"By that time, I had _Kage Tensei_ figured out," Naruto took up his narrative again. "So I thought I could keep my word to Danzo and die and then once Akatsuki wasn't a threat any longer I could come back and Danzo couldn't say a thing about it."

"You became Raiden," Tsunade said as if she had only just realized the connection.

"Yeah." Naruto raised one hand to scratch at the back of his head. Kakashi felt like slapping himself for missing that particular tell. "With my clones, I had my own backup, so no one had to fight my battles. I went to Amegakure, and I fought Pein."

"So, what happened?" Tsunade suddenly folded her arms like a disapproving parent.

Naruto looked distinctly nervous.

"Well, Pein's last jutsu pretty much guaranteed that he would die—"

"Not with the battle," Tsunade interrupted. "We know you won."

Kakashi tried not to be too disappointed. He didn't doubt that Naruto had defeated Pein, but his student had been only sixteen when that battle had taken place, and Kakashi really wanted to know how Naruto had managed to pull that off.

"You said you were going to come back to Konoha after Akatsuki wasn't a threat," continued Tsunade.

Naruto winced.

"I did," he answered softly.

Kakashi blinked and tried to run through all the times he had been sure he had seen some sort of ghost of Naruto. It hadn't been often. Mostly he tended to see traces of Naruto in other people, like the time Team Ten, Team Eight, and what was left of Team Seven had all gathered at Ichiraku's Ramen a week after the funeral and ordered one extra bowl than there were customers, leaving the bowl on the counter as some sort of edible tribute.

Naruto hung his head so that his chin nearly rested on his chest and took a deep breath.

"After I killed Pein, I walked through Hi no Kuni to get back to Konoha," he began hesitantly. "I guess I wasn't in a big hurry, and I was still healing. I met Mako in Tanzuka Gai."

Kakashi vaguely saw Tsunade nod at the reference, while Naruto's head lifted with a trace of a smile crossing his features.

"Well, I 'met' him," Naruto said significantly. "He tried to pick my pocket."

Kakashi raised an exposed eyebrow at that. For some reason, Naruto seemed to attract the most troublesome attention. With the way Mako looked up to his _sensei _now, Kakashi never would have guessed Naruto had started out as a target.

"I helped the kid out of some trouble, and he followed me the rest of the way to Konoha."

"So, you were here?" Tsunade gestured halfheartedly around her office to indicate the whole of the village.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded sadly. "I was in Henge 'cuz I wanted to surprise everyone. I thought I'd give you a heart attack, _baa-chan_, and then you'd _have _to retire."

The smile that had broken through his gloom at the memory of his supposed prank died away quickly.

"What happened?" prompted Kakashi.

"Danzo figured it out," Naruto replied in a deadened voice. "Maybe he already knew I wasn't really dead, but he knew that I was alive and who I was under the Henge."

"What did he do?" asked Sasuke.

His voice sounded much stronger compared to its previously strangled incarnation, but Kakashi had paid enough attention to the last Uchiha over the years to recognize the apparent calm as rage. Naruto balled his hands into fists and looked at the wall in front of him rather than at his audience.

"He said that I had broken my word," Naruto seethed.

Kakashi nearly winced. Everyone who knew Naruto knew how important he considered his promises to be. Danzo's accusation had probably hurt worse than any simple mention of neglected duty.

"I said I kept it because I did what I said I'd do." Naruto raised his hand then slashed it down as if he were wielding a blade. "I died so Pein didn't have a reason to attack Konoha, and then I fought him so Akatsuki wasn't a threat anymore. And I knew Sasuke had been reinstated, so he couldn't hold that over me."

"What then?" Shikamaru ground out his current cigarette and reached into his vest pocket for another one.

Naruto closed his eyes and raised his hand to sweep back through his hair. It was shorter than Minato-_sensei_ usually kept his, Kakashi noted. Anyone who saw Naruto now would never be able to argue his parentage.

"Danzo said he'd kill Sasuke if I revealed myself to anyone."

Kakashi could see the anger take over Tsunade's face. She was probably more irate at the torment to Naruto rather than the threat made against Sasuke. Shikamaru took in the news and only nodded thoughtfully, as if he had known all along. Sasuke, meanwhile, was either two seconds away from exploding at Naruto or sinking into a pool of depression. Kakashi wasn't entirely sure which outcome was more likely.

"Then he said I was more useful to Konoha dead," Naruto continued.

"What?" Tsunade cried in sheer indignation.

Naruto's head snapped up, and he held up his hands as if he would fend her off. Kakashi wondered for a moment if Naruto thought Tsunade was angry at him or if he were actually trying to defend Danzo. Naruto had a very forgiving spirit, true, but Kakashi was pretty sure there were still some things the boy wouldn't tolerate. Threatening his precious people should have been one.

"He said that I could do things for Konoha that no one else could since no one knew I was alive," explained Naruto quickly. "If I wanted to serve Konoha, that was the best way to do it."

Kakashi frowned at a man he couldn't actually see. Naruto was talking about no-name missions. Missions that were usually given to _nuke-nin_ so that nothing could be tied back to the village in question if the mission went bad. Naruto had mentioned back at the house that he took missions from only man since his death: Danzo. Kakashi wondered how many of these missions Naruto had been forced to take under the threat of keeping his friend alive.

"Danzo has gone too far with his interference," Tsunade murmured in a black mood.

"I don't think he knows that I've told anyone," Naruto muttered, not nearly as intense as he had been. "There's one thing, though."

Tsunade met his eyes agreeably as the others in the room pinned their attention back on Naruto.

"I took my kids here because this is home." Naruto raised one hand, palm up, to indicate the village just beyond the large windows of the office. "I knew you guys could help Kaito, and I knew Mako wanted the chance to be a ninja. But if Danzo gets at them . . ."

Naruto let his sentence trail away, leaving it up to Kakashi's imagination just what types of things Danzo could convince Naruto to do if he held his students' lives in his hands.

"We won't let that happen, Naruto," Tsunade said firmly.

Naruto nodded.

"I'd feel better if that curse seal was off Kaito," he said. "Sakura-_chan _said you just needed me to remove the barrier on it."

"Yes." Tsunade nodded hesitantly. "But what's the hurry?"

"Kaito and Mako were at Orochimaru's hideout near the Mogami River," reported Shikamaru.

Tsunade nodded self-assuredly. She had already known that much, then.

"Orochimaru's assistant, Noboru, forced Kaito-_kun_ to draw on the curse seal for energy," Kakashi finished. "Neji rendered him unconscious by closing his _tenketsu_, but as far as I know he hasn't woken up yet."

"I told Mako to take Kaito to the hospital with Sakura-_chan_," Naruto jumped in again. "They should be there now."

Tsunade looked between Naruto, Shikamaru, and Kakashi before turning her gaze back to Naruto. It didn't take much at all for Kakashi to imagine the determined look on Naruto's face.

"All right," Tsunade sighed, conceding the battle. "We'll see about your student."

Naruto gave a brief, satisfied nod before Tsunade waved one finger in his face.

"And right after that we're figuring out what to do about Danzo," she commanded.

Naruto's head bobbed up and down in an eagerness for the tension to go away.

"Sure," Naruto sighed and turned back for the door.

"Naruto," Shikmaru called.

Naruto turned back and looked, wide-eyed, at his comrade. Shikamaru lifted his hand and scratched at the dark hair just past his temple.

"You might want to change your hair," he noted. "Unless you want to give the doctors who examined your body a heart attack."

Naruto crossed his eyes and glanced at the locks of his own blond hair that fell across his brow. With the puzzled expression on his face, Naruto looked more like his old self — the one Kakashi had last seen as a sixteen-year-old kid. Then Naruto brought his hands up into a simple sign and wordlessly gathered his chakra into a hazy cloud around himself, not bothering to watch as his appearance was covered with the mask of Genkei, the brown-haired man who had first appeared in Tsunade's office.

"Good enough," Tsunade grumbled.

Naruto's smile turned slightly apologetic as he turned again and led the way out of the Hokage office.

**o0O0o**

Mako watched Sakura-_chan_ pace back and forth in the small hospital room. Kaito was sleeping on the bed; the only hint that he was actually sick was the way he didn't move. At all. Mako knew Kaito was a light sleeper because they had had to share a futon in Hafuko while Mei slept with Naruto-_sensei_. Kaito was forever tossing and turning and kicking at Mako whenever the younger boy couldn't sleep. The two had gotten into plenty of pillow fights because of it. The best ones, though, were when _sensei_ was awake enough to join in, creaming both boys with one hand hidden behind his back. Mako was still pretty sure Naruto-_sensei_ had cheated that one time when he got the feathers to tickle all three kids on their own, without _sensei_ touching them at all.

But now Kaito was still and silent, and he _wasn't_ moving. Mako kept most of his attention focused on his friend, just to be sure that if Kaito moved, Mako would see it. Mei sat in the one hospital chair in the room. Mako had found her sitting in a wooden swing near the Shinobi Academy, pushing at the ground idly with her feet. She hadn't been back home — to Uchiha's house — since she had first shown Sakura-_hime_ the Henge of _sensei_, Mei said. She didn't want to get in any more trouble, and she didn't want to see _sensei_ mad at her.

Fortunately, it had only taken the mention of Kaito's condition to set Mei on a determined path to follow Mako to the hospital, along with Sakura-_hime_. The tall man with eyes that seemed like they should be completely blind had followed them eagerly. After practically depositing them at the hospital, the man had left, declaring his intentions to go to the Hokage Tower and fill out his mission report. The lady had stayed behind and was watching Sakura-_chan_ pace with a little more worry than Mako felt the need to display.

"S-Sakura-_san_," stammered the young woman. "I'm sure N-Naruto-_kun_ will be here soon."

It was kind of strange to hear his _sensei_'s name said so easily after years of calling the man Genkei, all the while knowing him truly as _sensei_.

"When he gets here, I'm going to hit him so hard he'll think he's sixteen again," Sakura-_chan _huffed.

Abruptly, she spun on her heel and paced her way back to the other side of the room. As she turned, her eyes caught Mako's and suddenly held them.

"And you!" Sakura raised one finger to point accusingly at the boy.

Mako nearly jumped at the sudden attention, shifting himself slightly away from the hospital bed so that whatever wrath he faced wouldn't spill over onto Kaito. Mako pulled the corners of his mouth down into a grimace as he realized he was still in _attack mode_. Sakura-_chan_, no matter how mad she was, wasn't an enemy.

At least he hoped so.

"Don't think you're getting out of anything," Sakura said with a wild shake of her finger. "What were you thinking, going off after him on your own?

Mako just stared at the waving finger with a strange sense of disconnect. This wasn't quite like getting scolded by _sensei_. When Naruto-_sensei_ scolded his kids, it was usually patiently or with some grumbling sense of retribution. Mako was never sure why.

"Orochimaru could've killed you," continued Sakura. "And Kaito never should have been there."

Mako flinched at that part. He knew Kaito was in trouble, and it was probably because of him. He was the one who had needed so desperately to chase after _sensei_. Kaito, on the other hand, had been perfectly confident of _sensei_'s abilities. But then again, Kaito thought _sensei_ could do anything, even stop the rain. Kaito had been unconscious for the first week after Naruto-_sensei_ had rescued him from Asahi. He hadn't seen how much it had cost _sensei_ to do that jutsu.

"If you ever try that again, I'll . . . I'll—"

A low chuckle interrupted Sakura's struggle to find an appropriate threat and made Mako look up to the door of the room. Naruto-_sensei_ stood in a relaxed pose in the doorway with his arms crossed over his chest and his shoulder leaning against the door post. He still wore his red and black coat, and his black pants were slightly torn and dirty, but he was still smiling as he gazed into the room. That was maybe the only unusual thing about _sensei_, Mako noticed. His face was free of its usual mask, and he didn't look like that brown-haired disguise he had made up, which meant that Mako could actually see the way Naruto-_sensei_'s eyes crinkled and the lines on his cheek deepened as he smiled at Mako while Sakura looked over her shoulder at the man in the doorway and gaped.

"Now you know what it was like for me," Naruto-_sensei_ chuckled.

Naruto-_sensei_'s voice seemed to jerk Sakura out of her sudden silence. In one fluid motion that Mako couldn't quite follow, the _iryou-nin_ swept up to Mako's _sensei_ and raised her fist threateningly.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled as her fist collided with the top of his head.

Mako flinched and squeezed his eyes shut even as a part of him wondered how Sakura-_chan_ had managed to hit Naruto-_sensei_ when he was at least ten centimeters taller than her. Naruto-_sensei_ bent over heavily and raised one hand to rub his abused head.

"Ow," he whined plantively. "Sakura-_chan_."

Anything else Naruto-_sensei_ was going to say got swallowed up as Sakura threw her arms around his hunched shoulders and squeezed. Mako stared in wonder at the young woman holding on to his _sensei_ as if she never wanted to let go again.

"Idiot," Sakura murmured, her voice muffled by _sensei_'s coat.

Naruto-_sensei_ stared almost at Mako for a moment, but then his eyes fell so they were hooded, only the smallest slit of blue peeking from beneath his eyelids. His arms rose and encircled the young woman holding him.

"Sorry, Sakura_-chan_," he whispered.

Mako still heard him, though, right before he looked away determinedly. Watching his _sensei_ act like this was making his stomach feel a little funny. Like the time he had caught Naruto-_sensei_, back when he didn't know it was Naruto who was _sensei_, crying. The same sense of seeing something he wasn't supposed filled Mako's gut and made him turn his head to look at Kaito.

A man cleared his throat deliberately. Mako glanced over his _sensei_'s shoulder to see three more figures standing in the doorway. He recognized Uchiha right away, and the other man was the Nara that had been part of the team that had shown up in Hafuko. The woman that stood taller than both of them was Hokage-_sama_.

Feeling slightly apprehensive, Mako turned his eyes to door, relaxing slightly when he saw that Sakura-_chan_ had pulled away from Naruto-_sensei_ and was wiping her eyes. Naruto-_sensei_ used the opportunity to step into the room, followed closely by the Hokage. Nara-_san_ stayed where he was in the hallway while Uchiha also ventured into the hospital room.

"_Ne, sensei_," Mako called urgently now that the awkward moment was over. "Kaito's gonna be okay, right?"

Naruto-_sensei_ smiled broadly down at Mako, looking more like himself than he had since Konoha had come to Hafuko and _sensei_ had started wearing a permanent mask.

"Sure." Naruto-_sensei_ reached out and mussed up Mako's hair. "Sakura-_chan_ and I are gonna get that _orochi-teme_'s seal off of him, and then he'll be able to fight better."

Mako nodded eagerly. That was good, then. Kaito _needed_ to be free of that stupid seal, and Mako had no doubt Sakura-_chan _would be able to do that, especially with _sensei_'s help. Naruto-_sensei_ chewed his lip and frowned a bit as if he didn't know what to do next.

"_Sensei_?" Mako prompted.

"Here's the thing," Naruto-_sensei_ sighed. "I need you to take Mei-_chan_ to wait in the hallway."

"Can't I stay here, _sensei_?" Mei immediately protested.

Naruto-_sensei_ shook his head solemnly as his eyes shifted from Mako to Mei and back again. Sakura-_chan_ squat down with her feet flat on the floor so that she was at Mei's level of sight.

"I promise we'll take really good care of Kaito-_kun_, Mei-_chan_," she said sweetly. "But you have to be patient with us, all right?"

Mako eyed _sensei_ warily. Usually _sensei_ would be more understanding of Mako's need to protect Kaito. He did, too, if only because he was the oldest. Naruto-_sensei_ must have seen something in Mako's look because he bent down and laid one hand heavily on Mako's shoulder.

"It's gonna hurt, Mako," _sensei_ whispered into Mako's ear. "Mei-_chan_ doesn't need to see this part."

Mako almost glared at Naruto-_sensei_. The boy knew what he was doing. Naruto-_sensei_ was trying to make him feel bad for Mei-_chan_ so he would obey what _sensei_ said. One of these days Mako was gonna call him out on that. Only not now because for right now, it was still working.

"C'mon, _mei mei_." Mako reluctantly grabbed the smaller girl's hand and led her into the hallway.

"Hinata, I need you to monitor his _tenketsu_ while we work."

Mako heard Sakura-_chan_ issuing orders behind him as he walked out of the room. He didn't look over his shoulder because that would only encourage Mei to do so as well. Mako spotted a couple plastic chairs in the hallway next to a closed door and plopped down onto the chair with Mei's hand still in his. Mako slumped down and glanced across the hallway. Nara-_san_ stood against the wall with his hands in his pockets, murmuring something to the taller man beside him. Mako tried to study the man he hadn't seen through the hospital room door. The man standing just beside Nara was tall, and his face was hard to see because of the wild gray hair that stuck out every which way. Not to mention the weird mask that covered the man's nose and mouth. He looked exactly like the _sensei_ in Sakura-_chan_'s picture.

The door to Kaito's room slid closed, drawing Mako's attention briefly. He glanced at the two shinobi in the hallway to see if they had caught his nervous twitch. The scarecrow _sensei_ looked back at him with his eye all crinkled up at the corner. Mako was pretty sure that meant he was smiling underneath that mask.

"Mako-_kun, ne_?" the scarecrow said.

"Yeah," Mako started slowly. "How'd you know?"

"I've heard about you," the man answered casually. "You are very much like your _sensei."_

Mako's hand squeezed Mei's beside him as he stared at the old man.

"How do you know?" Mako asked hesitantly.

"Oh, I used to know your _sensei_, didn't he tell you?"

It was strange to see the man's eye curl up in a way that was like enough to _sensei_'s funny eye-scrunching-up look to know the man was smiling. Mako wondered what was wrong with the man's other eye to make him wear his _hitai-ate_ like a blindfold.

"_Sensei_ talks about his _shishou_ sometimes," Mei blurted.

Mako shot her a quick look. She didn't seem all that nervous about Kaito's current state or the process of taking the seal off of him. Mako turned his attention back on the scarecrow _sensei_ to see how he would react.

The older man had opened his one visible eye again, and now there were no lines around it to show he was smiling. Mako didn't think this man was Naruto-_sensei_'s _shishou_. He was pretty sure that _shishou_ had something to do with toads, and from the way _sensei_ described _ero-sennin_, Mako was sure the man was already dead.

"Does he?" mentioned the _sensei_ in a would-be-casual voice that was far to careful not to mean anything.

Mako seized the opportunity and plunged ahead.

"His said his _sensei_ was like a father," Mako said decidedly.

The older _sensei_ gazed at Mako with a blank look on his face. Or maybe he was actually gaping, and Mako just couldn't see it because of that stupid mask. Nara-_san _remained silent, standing in front of the door to Kaito's room like a guard.

"Is that so?" The older man's voice sounded contemplative, like one of the old men _sensei_ sometimes used to play _shogi_ with in Hafuko.

"_Sensei_ teaches Mako and Kaito now," Mei interjected.

"Does he?" The man's eye-smile returned quickly. "I'm sure they're both very good students."

"Kaito more than me," Mako felt compelled to correct the man. "He's better at _sensei_'s techniques. But I beat him at taijutsu most of the time. Kaito, not _sensei_."

He hurried at the end to correct himself, hoping the scarecrow _sensei_ hadn't thought Mako was lying. 'Cuz he would've been if he ever thought he could beat Naruto-_sensei_. Mako knew he wasn't that strong yet. Heck, he hadn't even been able to help _sensei_ when he went after the man to _hebi-teme_. Mako released Mei's hand and used his palms to scrub at his face.

"Kaito's right," he whispered to the cracks in his fingers. "I'm an idiot."

"I don't think your _sensei_ would think you're an idiot," Nara-_san _finally spoke up.

The words from someone who _had _to know who Naruto was or had been surprisingly did nothing to ease his guilt.

"It's my fault," insisted Mako. "I wanted to chase after _sensei_, even when Kaito said he'd be fine."

The scarecrow man waved one hand through the air in a lazy wave. Mako thought he recognized the wave as the same thing Naruto-_sensei_ did when he wanted to dismiss a conversation quickly.

"Then you are very much like your _sensei_," Scarecrow-_sensei_ answered in a decided tone. "Has he never told you of the time _he_ chased after someone?"

Mako looked up, interested despite himself, and studied the other man's expression. He wasn't that good yet at being able to tell if people were lying, and the man's mask didn't help at all. But he didn't think the man was lying. Especially considering the way Nara-_san_ rolled his eyes like he knew what was coming.

"I suppose he would have been about your age," Scarecrow-_sensei_ began slowly. "He was very determined to be the best ninja in the village, so that everyone would have to acknowledge him."

That didn't sound too much like Naruto_-sensei_. He had always been too busy trying to hide to make people acknowledge him. And Mako couldn't think of a time when _sensei_ wasn't the best ninja he'd ever seen. Not that he saw many ninja in Tanzuka Gai.

"One of his teammates was in trouble and left on almost the same route you two took to the Valley of the End near Ta no Kuni," the man continued. He paused long enough in his story to give Mako and Mei both a significant look. "Your _sensei_ was determined to get him back, even if it cost him his own life."

_That_ sounded like _sensei_. Mako smiled. If someone else thought he was growing to be like Naruto-_sensei_, especially the man who had taught _sensei_ himself, things couldn't be all bad.

**o0O0o**

Sakura stood in the dim hospital room while the boy in the bed slept and tried to ignore the strange feeling of a type of twisted déjà vu. It wasn't the same, that much was obvious. Unlike Kaito, Sasuke had been restrained to the bed when they had found the _Ten no Juuin_ he had received from Orochimaru inexplicably removed. Tsunade and Sakura had eventually decided, with help from Sasuke's remembrance of his battle with Itachi, that Itachi had somehow used the sword to seal away any traces Orochimaru had left behind in Sasuke's body.

That hadn't been possible with Kaito, so Sasuke had watched as Naruto had peeled back the layers of dark ink of the seal he had designed for the boy. Once the barrier seal was off, Tsunade and Sakura had worked together to forcibly remove the foreign chakra tied into Kaito's adrenal glands. It was delicate work only because it involved separately some of the boy's blood cells from each other while they were still inside his body. Using her eyes to peer through the layers of skin and muscle, Hinata guided the two _iryou-nin _during the procedure.

"It's done," Tsunade finally pronounced. "He should wake up by tomorrow."

"Good," Naruto sighed. "Can I take Mako and Mei home?"

Sakura's mouth twitched with the smile that wanted to get out. Naruto was _home_. Tsunade pursed her lips and nodded slowly.

"All right. Hinata, why don't you go with them?"

Hinata hurried through the door to the kids who no doubt would be waiting on the other side. Naruto nodded and turned to the door a bit more easily. After taking two steps, Naruto suddenly stopped and snapped his fingers as if he had just remembered something. He brought his hands up and let a cloud of smoke surrounded with an audible _poof_. When the smoke cleared, Naruto wore the same youthful face Sakura had seen around a campfire in the woods of Hi no Kuni, talking abut how Orochimaru had stolen his brother. Naruto-disguised-as-Genkei glanced over his shoulder and smiled sheepishly.

"Stupid _teme_ broke my mask," he explained.

Sakura thought of the white and red mask that she had first seen as a way of both hiding and intimidating and did not feel sorry for its loss. Sasuke huffed.

"It didn't suit you," he said disdainfully. "Were you trying to be ANBU, _dobe_?"

Sakura's eyes flitted from Sasuke to Naruto to see how Naruto would take the apparent scorn. But Naruto only smiled a sad little smile, adding to the entire sense of falseness that covered Naruto's face.

"It reminded me of Haku," he admitted.

Naruto turned again, lifting his shoulders in a small shrug, and started walking again. Without a word, Sasuke followed him, falling into step with the disguised man. Naruto turned his head and silently raised an eyebrow at his sudden companion.

"My mission to watch Raiden for possible threats to Konoha is not over," Sasuke explained coldly.

Sakura could clearly see the flash of pain that crossed Naruto's face and stepped forward to reprimand Sasuke. He _knew_ Raiden was Naruto now, and Naruto would never bring harm to Konoha. Sasuke _had _to know that.

"Uchiha," Tsunade called warningly.

Sasuke didn't respond, but Naruto shrugged and waved one hand in a fairly good imitation of Shikamaru's careless dismissal.

"It's all right, _baa-chan_," Naruto said. "I'm still a secret, aren't I?"

Sakura could say nothing to Naruto's forced enthusiasm. It was the only thing that remained familiar about him in his current disguise. Now that Sakura knew who Raiden had been the whole time, she wondered how many of Naruto's quirks she had missed simply because she hadn't been looking. He had taken her into town with Kaito and Mei and flirted with her as they walked down the street. Sakura's throat tightened with emotion, and she said nothing as Naruto opened the door to leave.

Shikamaru stood on the other side of the hospital door, looking as if he had just been about to knock. Naruto nodded solemnly at his friend, but Sasuke ignored the other man completely as they both walked into the hall. Sakura caught a glimpse of Hinata kneeling in front of the two kids sitting on the floor in the hallway. She looked like she was introducing herself as Naruto stood above the entire proceedings with a slight smile. Shikamaru entered the room along with Kakashi, who closed the door behind him.

"How's the kid?" Kakashi asked immediately.

"He'll be all right," answered Sakura. "It'll take some time for his chakra coils to recover from the procedure."

"I'm not entirely sure we'll have time." Shikamaru sighed in a way that let Sakura know he was longing for a cigarette.

Tsunade shot the special _jounin_ a glare as if daring him to light up in a hospital room. Unbothered by the Hokage's displeasure, Shikamaru only turned to the older woman with a serious look on his face.

"Did Naruto tell you what we faced in Orochimaru's lair?" he asked.

"You mean Orochimaru's new apprentice?" Tsunade asked with a frown. "Noboru?"

Sakura recognized the name from traveling with Raiden and the hurried whispered discussion of the attack on Hafuko among the Konoha shinobi. She was surprised when Shikamaru shook his head in the negative.

"That was delegated to myself and Neji, actually," Kakashi said with a faint degree of interest.

"There were two ninja that Orochimaru called to fight against Sasuke, Naruto, Kiba, and me when we were facing Orochimaru alone," Shikamaru began. "Their chakra . . ."

Shikamaru trailed off uncertainly, and Sakura eyed him worriedly. Shikamaru was a genius, yes, but he was also lazy. He chose his words carefully so he didn't have to waste time searching for the right words. This uncertain silence was worrying. Shikamaru finally sighed and raised his eyes to meet Tsunade's.

"I've only felt chakra like that from Naruto or Gaara," he finished abruptly.

Sakura wondered what that could mean. Did Orochimaru have someone as powerful as Godaime Kazekage was? But then she glanced at her master and saw Tsunade's eyes grow almost comically wide.

"You think Orochimaru has a _jinchuuriki_?" she gaped.

Sakura felt her own eyes bug out of her head. It had been more than four years since she had associated Gaara's name with the title for a host of a _bijuu_. Shikamaru shrugged again, but Sakura could see the tension that lined the muscles in his shoulders.

"He was once a part of Akatsuki," Shikamaru reminded them. "It's possible he knew what they left behind."

Tsunade grimaced and pinched the bridge of her nose.

"This just keeps getting better," she grumbled. "How much trouble can that brat get himself into?"

**o0O0o**

"I guess this is what happens when you crash into an Uchiha's house," Naruto muttered as he picked his way through the ruined garden beside the small house on the Uchiha Complex with Mei nestled on his back.

From the shape of the flattened ground, it was a safe bet that Gamakichi had landed here. The sun was already setting, painting most of Konoha a bright red as the small group had traipsed through the village. Mako walked beside Hinata up ahead while Sasuke retained his place by Naruto's side. The situation didn't really make for enthralling conversation, especially considering Naruto's walking buddies. Three times in the course from the hospital to the Uchiha Complex, Naruto had tried to start a conversation with the man beside him. Every single time had resulted in a mere grunt or silence from Sasuke. The final time, Naruto hadn't even finished asking when Sasuke had taken the _jounin _exams before Sasuke merely turned his head and glared at Naruto. Naruto had pretty much given up by that time. He didn't know why Sasuke was being so pissy, unless he was still mad that Naruto had kept his identity a secret.

Naruto nearly rolled his eyes. And he thought Shino could hold a grudge.

He could, he supposed, try to talk to Hinata, but that would mean calling ahead and drawing more attention from the villagers who passed by them than he wanted. By the time they reached the relative privacy of the Uchiha Complex, Naruto had pretty much given up on talking.

Mako, meanwhile, kept shooting strange glances at Sasuke. They weren't openly hostile, like the ones Naruto was sure Mako was involved in when they had first arrived in Konoha. Neither Mako nor Kaito made their dislike of Uchiha Sasuke a secret. But now, Mako looked more puzzled than anything. He kept craning his neck over his shoulder to look at Sasuke as if the boy wasn't entirely sure what Sasuke was about to do next. From Mako's incredulous gaze, Naruto was almost expecting anything from an actual conversation to a declaration of undying love for tomatoes from the last Uchiha.

Naruto's mouth twisted as he bit his tongue in an effort to keep his laughter inside at that thought. He was still trying to regulate his breathing as Mako pitched forward to open the sliding door of the house to let the rest of the company inside.

"There you are!"

Naruto nearly jumped at the sudden voice from inside the house. His eyes snapped to the open living room to see Chouji, Sai, and Tenten planted resolutely in Sasuke's house.

"What the—" Naruto nearly swore in surprise before he remembered he was carrying a tired little girl on his back and clamped his lips together.

Chouji jumped up and flew to Naruto's side with surprising speed for a man his size. Naruto supposed the man's enthusiasm had something to do with that.

"We didn't know when Tsunade-_sama_ would be done with you, and we didn't want to hover around the hospital if she would be there," Chouji explained.

"Or Sakura," added Sai as he stood. "The hag can be scary when she's mad."

Naruto shot an annoyed glare at Sai for still calling Sakura that. He really regretted ever teaching Sai the concept of nicknames. Hinata stood beside Tenten and watched the proceedings with wide eyes.

"Didn't you have three students?" Tenten asked curiously.

Naruto glanced down at Mako, who had regained his worried look while pinching his lower lip between his teeth.

"Kaito's staying in the hospital for the night," Naruto answered after a pause. "The kids wanted to come home."

Naruto bounced his laced-together hands where they supported Mei on his back.

"Are you a giant?" asked a quiet voice near Naruto's ear.

Naruto craned his neck to look over his shoulder and down his back at the smiling girl. Mei had turned so quiet that he had thought she was asleep. But instead, he found her staring wide-eyed up at Chouji.

"Right," Naruto started hesitantly. "Aki Mei, this is Akimichi Chouji. You met Mako, right?"

Naruto directed his last question toward Chouji even as he glanced down at the boy by his side. He knew Chouji, as well as the others, had been at Sasuke's house when Naruto had gotten back from his mission with Shikamaru and the others. Had they just stuck around this whole time? Naruto desperately wanted to see how Sasuke was reacting to all this.

"Yeah." Mako scratched the back of his head in a gesture that Naruto knew the kid had adopted from Naruto's own habits.

Chouji stared as the light-haired boy rubbed his scalp sheepishly then looked back up at Naruto with a wide, knowing grin. Naruto rolled his eyes at his friend's obvious amusement.

"Are you a giant, Akimichi-_san_?" Mei repeated. "Like in _sensei_'s story?"

Naruto blanched as he lowered Mei from his back to the floor. Chouji frowned down at the girl. Mei slipped behind Mako and clasped the boy's hand. That perspective probably didn't do anything to dissuade her belief that Chouji was a giant.

"_Sensei_ always tells good stories," Mei continued in her vein. "Sakura-_hime_ is the princess from his toad story."

Naruto pulled a face as he hunched his shoulders up in an instinctively protective gesture. He was lucky Sakura-_chan_ was still at the hospital and couldn't hear that he had made her into a fairy-tale princess. He was pretty sure she would hit him for that. He heard Tenten chuckle from her corner and dared to look at her. Tenten was sporting a wide grin while Hinata was staring at Mei and twisting her fingers together.

_Oh, hell, _this was going to be awkward, wasn't it?

"And the story of the Six Shinobi and the evil _Go-Oto_," Mei continued, completely oblivious to the attention she was drawing. "There was the dog tamer and the shadow-nin and the giant."

Mei slowly counted each character off on her fingers and then looked up at Chouji hopefully.

"You're the giant, right, Akimichi-_san_?"

"Who's ready for bed?" Naruto interjected swiftly.

Mei turned on Naruto with wide eyes.

"I'm not sleepy, _sensei_," she protested.

Naruto was half-convinced that Mei knew he was trying to get her out of the room and was purposefully playing the innocent for the group.

"I'll take her, _sensei_," Mako said quickly.

He hurried across the room to the hallway that led to the back rooms, practically dragging Mei by the grip he still had on her hand. Naruto blew out a heavy sigh and raised a hand to the back of his head in an imitation of his own student.

"A giant?" Chouji asked pointedly.

Naruto threw both hands into the air, an act of complete exasperation he had pretty much perfected since Mako had started demanding Naruto teach him.

"She wanted a bedtime story," he protested.

"So you told her about _that_ mission?" Chouji gaped in return.

Naruto flinched slightly. It figured that Chouji would realize what mission Mei was talking about since he was the only one in the room who had initially been a part of it. Naruto shrugged helplessly.

"With some differences," he amended.

He glanced back at Sasuke quickly. The initial retrieval mission — the one that failed when Naruto had been only thirteen — had been one of Naruto's most painful memories. But when Mei had started asking for bedtime stories, Naruto had no idea what to tell her. His own childhood had been relatively devoid of bedtime stories, and the only book he regularly carried around was the one Jiraiya had first published, "The Tale of the Gutsy Shinobi."

So, Naruto had taken what he knew and turned it into stories he thought might be appropriate for a girl Mei's age. So the failed retrieval mission had turned into a story of six shinobi — since Naruto really had to include Lee as well — chasing down and defeating six enemy shinobi from the evil empire of Oto. Sasuke had been eliminated from the account entirely. Naruto didn't think a bedtime story should have a sad ending like that.

"Differences?" Tenten blurted. "Which one was Neji supposed to be?"

Naruto opened his mouth to reply then immediately closed it again. Mei had demanded having a girl in the story, but there were no kunoichi on that mission. Naruto knew that. So, how was he supposed to say that in his story Neji was actually an heiress to a powerful clan?

"On second thought." Tenten took a good look at Naruto's face and pursed her lips. "I don't think I want to know."

Naruto sighed in relief. Tenten let go of the subject just as Sai stepped forward with a puzzled look on his face. Naruto peered back wonderingly. He hadn't seen Sai since he and his kids had arrived in Konoha. Granted, between his time spent at Sasuke's house and Danzo's machinations to get him working as an assassin again, Naruto felt like he hadn't had much time at all to indulge in his home. Sai blinked at Naruto with a blank face and then finally craned his neck back as if he were taking in all of Naruto at once.

"Hey, what happened to your face, dickless?"

Naruto scowled at Sai.

"Shut up, ink-boy," he retorted hotly. "It's my—"

Suddenly, Naruto remembered his Henge. He lifted one hand to his face and touched his cheek.

"It's _not_ my face," he completed his sentence weakly. The layer of chakra made his skin feel unusually warm, at least to him. "I guess I'm still a secret."

Naruto didn't know how Tsunade was planning on stealing him back away from Danzo. She could, he supposed, just tell people what the old bastard had threatened Naruto with, how he had gotten the _jinchuuriki_ to be the weapon Danzo had always wanted. But then, Danzo hadn't actually taken any action against any citizens of Konoha, not even Sasuke; so then it became Naruto's word against Danzo's. And while Naruto was confident that his friends would believe him — hell, even Tsunade believed him — he was a little more worried about the others in Konoha, the ones that recognized Danzo as one of the last of the generation that had seen the Senju brothers establish and lead the fledgling village of Konohagakure.

Naruto wasn't sure how many of Konoha would stand up for him. Or how strong Danzo's secret organization of ROOT remained. Who knew how easy it would be for Danzo to slip in and assassinate one of Naruto's friends? Or his kids?

"Not from us," Chouji declared defiantly.

Naruto felt a smile slowly spread across his face. Well, if everyone knew anyway . . . He raised his hands in a cross and let the chakra for the Henge dispel to reveal blue eyes and light hair.

"C'mon, there's some onigiri left." Chouji slung one arm around Naruto's shoulders, causing the shorter man to buckle under the sudden, unexpected weight.

Naruto glanced up at Chouji, and then he smiled widely. He knew how much it meant for Chouji to offer food to someone, especially if Chouji would rather eat it himself. With one last clap on Naruto's back, Chouji stepped away to lead the way to the kitchen.

Naruto straightened and glanced to his right to see Sasuke leaning against the wall of the house. His eyes remained on Naruto, but Naruto had a hard time defining the emotion within the pointed gaze. Sasuke didn't look like he was trying to restrain his rage anymore, and he didn't look like he had retreated once again into his apathetic mask. Naruto knew those were the most common features Sasuke's face would often get stuck in, but this studying as if he were trying to commit every one of Naruto's quirks to memory was something new.

When Naruto was halfway to the open kitchen, he heard the front door slam open.

"Naruto!"

Naruto tried to turn at the loud cry of his name, but something solid and heavy slammed into his waist before he got more than halfway facing the door.

"Ooft!" Naruto grunted as most of the air left his lungs forcefully and he fell to the floor with his attacker.

Naruto put his palms on the straw mat floor and pushed hard to turn over on his back, knocking the man on his back and pinning him between the floor and Naruto's body.

"Kiba!" Naruto cried, exasperated. "Get off me!"

"Off you?" demanded Kiba from under Naruto's back. "I'm not on you, hothead!"

Naruto's hand found where Kiba's arms had wrapped around his waist, and he wrenched past the grip the Inuzuka had on him. He had forgotten how rough and tumble Kiba could be. Naruto sat up again, now free of Kiba's mock-wrestling hold, and glanced up at the others in the room. Chouji was just grinning while Tenten laughed. Even Sai was smiling at the antics on the floor. Hinata seemed to be he only one who was concerned about the spontaneous wrestling match, and she wasn't saying a word.

Shaking his head, Naruto gave up the idea of convincing someone to get Kiba to behave and looked at Sasuke quickly. He was surprised to see a flash of red in Sasuke's eyes before it quickly faded back to Sasuke's normal black. What had the bastard been using the Sharingan for?

"Ha!" Kiba cried as he wrapped one arm around Naruto in a headlock. "That's for keeping yourself a secret from us."

Naruto used one hand to keep Kiba's arm from traveling too close to his mouth — he remembered well what a sweaty Inuzuka tasted like — and with the other, Naruto scuffled through the holster on his thigh. His fingers brushed a loose paper crumpled in the bottom of the pouch, and Naruto snagged it quickly. He twisted into the headlock so that most of his body faced Kiba.

"Give up!" Naruto demanded. "You haven't been able to defeat me since we were genin!"

His arm wrapped around Kiba's body and tagged Kiba's back before Naruto pulled his chin into his body and twisted out of Kiba's headlock. Kiba reached and tried to grab Naruto's wrist to pin him down again. Suddenly, another hand joined in the fray. Naruto watched in surprise as Sasuke grabbed Kiba by the back of his collar and jerked him away from Naruto.

"Stop tearing up my house, Inuzuka," Sasuke commanded coldly.

Naruto stood as Kiba glowered up at Naruto, ignoring Sasuke's warning entirely.

"Whaddaya mean, since we were genin?" Kiba demanded. "The only time we fought was in the Chuunin Exams, and I demand a rematch!"

"Fine, soon as I enter again," grumbled Naruto without thinking.

Actually, was that even possible? He had heard of a seventeen-year-old taking the Chuunin Exams, but then Kabuto had been pretty much an exception to every rule, considering he was Orochimaru's plant inside Konoha. Kiba stared up at Naruto blankly before he suddenly burst into laughter, pointing up at Naruto.

"You're still a genin!" gasped Kiba in between guffaws.

"So what?"

Naruto glared at him. It wasn't like his rank made much of a difference now, and besides he had basically told Kiba that he was still a genin when he had been masquerading as Genkei. Kiba didn't stop laughing.

"Not like I need to be chuunin to beat you," Naruto threw out.

"What are you talking about?" Kiba's laughter died down enough for him to jerk one thumb over his shoulder. "You needed Uchiha-_teme_ to pull me away from you."

Naruto folded his arms across his chest calmly and looked down at Kiba without tilting his face down, so that he looked as if he were looking down his nose at the man still on his butt on Sasuke's floor.

"Hey, dog-breath," Naruto called calmly.

"What?" Kiba's grin widened.

"Boom."

The seal Naruto had planted on Kiba's back exploded in a sudden burst of white paint and noxious fumes. Sasuke's body had suddenly disappeared from its position hovering behind Kiba with only the faintest breeze left behind from his s_hunshin_. Kiba's eyes widened in panic before Naruto practically saw them fill up with tears as the scent of a skunk's best defense caught Kiba square in his over-sensitive nose. Kiba clamped both hands over his nose and mouth and bent over his stomach like he was going to be sick. Unfortunately, this also exposed the white streak of paint that ran from the back of his head, matting down his hair, to his tailbone. Naruto wrapped his hands around his stomach and doubled over with laughter.

"Gotcha, skunk-boy!" Naruto crowed triumphantly.

"Naruto!" Tenten cried in dismay.

Naruto dared to glance at the other occupants of the house. Tenten and Sai were both holding their noses deliberately. Chouji had clamped his whole hand over his mouth and nose like Kiba, and Naruto could still see the face the Akimichi was making. Hinata looked torn between disgust at the new smell in the house and pity for what had to be one of the worst attacks Kiba had to suffer through.

Sasuke suddenly reappeared near the paper door that led to his smashed garden. He had his arms folded disapprovingly across his chest, which meant that he wasn't holding his nose against the smell like everyone else was. Naruto wondered how much of his scowl was meant to express his distaste of Naruto's prank and how much was Sasuke just trying to keep his stoic expression in the face of such a horrid smell.

Granted, it didn't quite have the flair that the confetti seal did, but Naruto was glad he had one of his skunk seals left. It was pretty much the perfect thing to use against someone who took such pride in his nose like Kiba.

Kiba lurched to his feet and pushed past Sasuke with the desperation of someone rushing not to mess up the carpet. Hinata glanced at Naruto worriedly before she followed Kiba outside. Sasuke hurried out of the way with more speed than grace. He turned his frown back to Naruto as groans could be heard from the garden of someone trying desperately not to throw up. Naruto only shrugged with a deliberate air of nonchalance.

"It comes out with tomato juice," Naruto observed calmly. "You wouldn't happen to have any tomatoes, wouldja, Sasuke?"

Naruto was sure Sasuke's glare doubled in its intensity just from that comment alone. Naruto just threw back his head and laughed again. He had missed his home.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke grit his teeth together as he climbed the narrow steps carved into Hokage Mountain. The day had not gone quite as he would have wanted it to. First, he had gotten into a brawl, of all things, with a man he thought reminded him too much of a boy who was supposed to be dead. Then, he had taken off after said ghost and gotten into Orochimaru's territory, only to find out that the ghost he had been so sure to be dead was actually alive.

As if that hadn't been enough, they had retreated from Orochimaru's lair only to reveal that Uzumaki Naruto had been alive for four years and had been taking secret missions from Himura Danzo for all four years. He hadn't even tried to come back to his home after one initial attempt. It was as if Naruto had just given up, which was completely inconsistent with what Sasuke had always known about Naruto.

And then, after a stop at the hospital to take care of a kid that brought too much dejá vu to Sasuke's life for him to be comfortable with, Naruto came back to the place he had been staying. And now, Sasuke's house smelled like a skunk had died in it, and his garden was ruined and a refuse for a sick dog.

The celebratory atmosphere had diminished shortly after that, probably about the time Sasuke had started kicking people out of his house in an attempt to make the smell go away. Sasuke had spent nearly an hour scrubbing the tatami mats where Kiba had been attacked — if one could call that fool of a prank an attack. By the time he was done, the two kids were sleeping in their appropriate rooms, but Naruto was no longer in the house. Sasuke had stormed out to look for him, slamming the door behind him only because he would probably find himself ramming a _Chidori_ through the wall otherwise.

The only reason Sasuke had thought to climb Hokage Mountain was because he had started his search at the Hokage Tower just below it. Naruto's chakra had been close enough to sense when Sasuke had been barred admittance into the Hokage's office, not that he minded that particular detriment much. So, Sasuke climbed to the top of the mountain and surveyed the land around him. His eyes caught sight of a red and black coat, covering a figure that stood on the carving of Yondaime, several meters below the flat plain that made up the top of Hokage Mountain. Sasuke scowled but began the descent walking vertically down the mountain face.

Most of the sky had turned purple with the dusk. Sasuke saw the surprising color of Naruto's hair before he reached his destination. Long, blond locks — the kind Sasuke had seen when Naruto finally stopped pretending he was someone else.

"'M not runnin' away, Sasuke," Naruto protested with a sigh.

Sasuke froze about two meters above Naruto's head. Slowly, Naruto glanced over his shoulder to see Sasuke standing sideways on the face of the mountain. His face was free of the Henge Naruto had kept around most of the time he ventured into the village, not to mention the time in Orochimaru's lair. It gave Sasuke a good look at how much Naruto's face had aged from the eternal sixteen-year-old Sasuke kept in his mind. Sasuke folded his arms over his chest and refused to change his facial expression. He wasn't about to give Naruto the satisfaction of seeing Sasuke lose control of anything. Naruto finally sighed and went back to looking at his village. The abject dismissal pissed Sasuke off even more.

"Why did you do it?" Sasuke suddenly demanded.

Naruto glanced back up with a surprised look, which only made Sasuke's frown grow more pronounced.

"Did you think I couldn't handle Danzo?" continued Sasuke when Naruto said nothing.

Naruto scoffed and crossed his own arms over his chest.

"Danzo isn't someone you handle, Sasuke," he said, almost like he was reprimanding one of his students. "He was going to convince the Council to have you executed. Even Tsunade was against you at first, do you really think you could go up against everyone here who wanted you dead?"

Naruto uncrossed his arms again and shifted his feet so that he could look up at Sasuke more easily. Sasuke just glared back. True, he had encountered hostility when he first came back to Konoha. Most people were in favor of his execution; after all, he had been Orochimaru's main prize for three years. That didn't explain Naruto's logic.

"How did you dying help that?" Sasuke felt lips pull back in a sneer as his hair almost in his face as gravity pulled it sideways.

"Shut Danzo up, didn't it?" Naruto rolled his eyes.

Sasuke released his sideways grip on the face of the mountain and executed a quick half-turn so that he landed less than a meter away from where Naruto stood. Naruto slid his hands into his pockets and remained calm. Sasuke glared at him. Was he trying to prove something by sticking to his story that it was for Sasuke's sake that he had stayed away?

"Even Danzo isn't as powerful as Tsunade," declared the Uchiha.

Naruto raised his eyebrows in surprise. Sasuke supposed he couldn't really blame the surprise. He had a policy not to acknowledge someone else's power, at least out loud.

"They got over me," Sasuke declared bluntly. "Why didn't you come back?"

The threat of execution eventually went away when Tsunade moved Sasuke to a probationary period. He was basically given the rights of an Academy student and worked only D-ranked missions that didn't take him out of the village. After two years of this behavior, Tsunade promoted Sasuke to chuunin based on his performance of his last Chuunin Exams — the fact that he had fought, even if he hadn't defeated, Sabuku no Gaara pulled quite a few people into his ring. His becoming jounin was entirely on his own power, without any limitations because of his past on him.

Danzo no longer had the power to call for his execution. And Sasuke was certain he could defeat any subtle attempt to assassinate him, whether it came from within Konoha or from one of Orochimaru's new experiments.

"I knew what he would do," Naruto answered to the thin air. "If it wasn't you, it was Sakura-_chan_. Or Hinata-_chan_ or Sai. Hell, he even told me once how easy it would be to kill Chihiro."

Sasuke's eyes narrowed.

"He'd never—"

Naruto jerked his hands from his pockets and whipped his head around before Sasuke had a chance to finish.

"He took an Aburame and a Yamanaka into ROOT just so he could have a way to fight against Konoha's own ninja!" Naruto snapped.

Sasuke's brain absorbed this new information a second slower than he would have liked. It only started with surprise that Naruto even knew something like that. Then, Sasuke remembered having to face Raiden's masked face all the way from Konoha to Kumo and back. Even with the Henge on, he had never fully relaxed in the presence of their teammates, Aburame Torune and Yamanaka Fuu.

"The ones on our mission to Kumo?" Sasuke breathed, uncertainly. "You—"

That proved Danzo was keeping an eye on Naruto ever since he had been in Konoha. And not only Naruto. Sasuke had been the only one on that mission who was not accountable to Danzo, if one counted Naruto's duress. If Sasuke had been killed on the mission, Aburame and Yamanaka could report back that Sasuke had encountered some unfriendly faces in Kumo, or even an ambush by Oto, and who knew if Naruto would say a word otherwise. Sasuke narrowed his eyes.

"I'm going to kill him." Sasuke's voice turned icy as he turned away as if going to execute his mission immediately.

"No!" Naruto lunged forward and grabbed Sasuke's arm.

Sasuke's hand flew up to clutch at the hand that captured his arm in a vice-like grip. For a moment, Sasuke considered throwing the _dobe_ off the side of the mountain and seeing how well he could live after a thirty-meter fall. But the thought flew from Sasuke's mind as soon as it had entered. Instead, Sasuke hauled Naruto's body closer to him so that he was glaring at a face centimeters from his own. He could feel the chakra flow through his eyes, a sure sign that his _doujutsu_ had activated. Sasuke grit his teeth then opened his mouth to demand his own release. If Naruto was too big of an idiot to take care of his own problem, then Sasuke would handle it for him.

"You see why I didn't want you to know, idiot!" Naruto shouted at his friend. "They'll kill you if you execute a member of Konoha."

Was that really was Naruto was worried about? Sasuke resisted the urge to roll his eyes, but he did loosen his grip on Naruto's shirt and arm.

"Not if the one I execute is a traitor already," Sasuke replied coldly. "Danzo is already responsible for too much suffering."

It made perfect sense, if one thought about it. Danzo was a traitor to Konoha even more than Sasuke was. At least Sasuke had been obvious about his intentions. Danzo remained in Konoha and whittled away at Konoha's greatest strengths, like a fungus under the ground that ate at the roots of a plant until the plant looked sickly or spotted for no apparent reason at all.

For some reason, Danzo didn't understand that Naruto _was_ one of Konoha's greatest strengths. Hell, Sasuke couldn't count the number of people who were still angry at him just because of what they thought he had done to Naruto. The idiots didn't realize that the only reason Sasuke stayed loyal to Konoha was because of Naruto. And now it was because of Danzo that Naruto had to hide himself. As much as Sasuke had always said he had never cared about Konoha, Naruto was the opposite. Naruto needed Konoha to live as much as Sasuke needed—

"Because of you?" Naruto suddenly asked, peering at Sasuke with a puzzled frown.

Sasuke clamped his teeth together tightly and turned his face to the dimly-lit village below the mountain rather than face Naruto. He did _not_ need Naruto. He had his own purpose.

"Sasuke, your vengeance doesn't solve anything," sighed Naruto. "I wanted you to live!"

"I didn't!" Sasuke yelled back.

Naruto's eyes widened suddenly, and Sasuke cursed himself three different ways for his outburst. As Naruto studied his friend with piercingly blue eyes — brighter and sharper than Sasuke's _Chidori_ — Sasuke kept his head down and clenched his hands into fists without meeting Naruto's gaze.

"Why did you have to bring me back?" he asked in a quiet, restrained voice. "What was there left for me? You should have let me die."

Upon waking up in the Konoha Hospital after three years as a traitor to the village, Sasuke had thought he was dead. He could only remember being so, _so_ tired after his battle with Itachi that it didn't matter anymore. He was going to sleep right there, and he didn't care if he never woke again. He had accomplished all that he wanted to; there was nothing left. And then, suddenly, he was back in the village that had once been his home with a blond teenager who always wore his heart straight on his sleeves kept talking as if Sasuke was just in the hospital after a stupid mission, like always.

Naruto took one step forward and laid a hand on Sasuke's tense shoulder.

"How could I do that?" he asked. "I promised."

And that was it. As if that explained everything in his eyes. And, Sasuke realized, it probably did. Naruto never said anything he didn't mean. He had said he would bring Sasuke back to Konoha, so he did. He had said that he saw Sasuke as a brother, so that's how Naruto had always treated him. Against all logic, Naruto persisted in his beliefs until those around him had no choice but to adapt their views to match his.

Sasuke jerked when something struck him lightly on the shoulder until he realized it was only Naruto's fist. Naruto sometimes had some strange ideas about what constituted friendly banter. Sasuke wasn't even going to mention that stupid skunk prank.

"Besides," Naruto said cheerfully as he put his hands back in his pockets, "I think you did a pretty good job of protecting them for me."

Sasuke turned in shock and stared at Naruto. Was _that _what that had been? Naruto's last words had haunted Sasuke for four years. _"Now it's your turn."_ Sasuke couldn't mistake Naruto's meaning when they had been talking about protecting something or someone just moments before. Did Naruto know how much those words would torment Sasuke?

No, Sasuke realized as he stared at the young man who, in turn, stared at the village below. Naruto hadn't manipulated Sasuke into staying in Konoha and protecting the people here. Naruto had _trusted_ Sasuke to protect what was most precious to Naruto. Suddenly, the _hitai-ate_ on Sasuke's forehead felt foreign, like it wasn't a part of him. Sasuke turned on his heel and followed Naruto's gaze out over the quiet village named for the trees surrounding it.

Was it really so bad to admit that Sasuke actually did have a place to call home?

* * *

A/N: Hello, all, yet again. I have the chapter up and raring to go by the end of the month, which was no easy task let me tell you. But I like this chapter, especially that last scene. I've been planning that confrontation for at least the past five chapters. Here's hoping everyone is true to character.

Given the copious amounts of dialog in this chapter, I think all foreign terms in here are things I've explained before. Still, there's at least one definition below. Let me know if I missed anything.

And now that we know everyone is alive (and that Danzo is evil), we still need a bit of explanation as to what exactly was going on in Orochimaru's lair. Believe me, it'll all come together soon. Until then!

Sincerely,

Fia

_Yondaime no isan_ – Fourth Shadow's (Yondaime) legacy: Itachi is the first one to call Naruto this before the time skip, but I think Orochimaru would know how the phrase applied to the _jinchuuriki_.


	15. In Which He Lives

Chapter 14: In Which He Lives

_Children are our legacy. Our responsibility. They are our destiny and we are theirs._

~ Dirk Benedict

**o0O0o**

Mei rinsed out her mouth and spit into the sink then displayed her teeth to the bathroom mirror. Sufficiently clean and ready to go, Mei hurried out of the bathroom and into the main room of Uchiha-_san_'s house where Mako and _sensei_ were waiting.

"I'm ready!" Mei announced.

Naruto-_sensei_, in his disguise as the mouse-haired man from Ame, looked up and smiled at Mei.

"Good. Let's go, then."

Mei ran up and grabbed _sensei's_ hand before anyone could say anything. Uchiha-_san_ stood near the door that led outside, looking pretty much like he always did, with his arms crossed and his face scowling. He didn't look at all like any brother of _sensei_'s.

But that was what the scarecrow-_sensei_ had meant, Mei thought, when he told that story to her and Mako. The story had sounded remarkably like _sensei's_ story of the Six Shinobi who had chased down the bad guys from the evil Oto Empire. Only the six Konoha shinobi had been chasing after Uchiha Sasuke, who was Uzumaki Naruto's teammate. _Sensei_ had always said that the boy that Orochimaru had taken was his brother. But Uchiha-_san_ looked nothing like Naruto-_sensei_.

The small party walked down the large street in the middle of Konoha toward the hospital where Kaito was. Kaito didn't have the snake-man's seal on him anymore, which meant that he wasn't in danger anymore. Mei was glad of that. Maybe now he wouldn't be so mean about staying in _sensei_'s home. Konoha was a big village, but Mei liked it here. Especially if they could all keep living with Uchiha-_san_ and Sakura-_hime_.

"Sasuke-_san_!"

Mei jumped a bit at the loud shout, but _sensei's_ hand stayed still and firm, covering hers. They were just outside of the hospital already, and she didn't expect anyone to shout that loudly in front of a hospital. Mei stood very still and watched the man dressed entirely in green bound up to _sensei_ with more energy than even Mako usually had.

"Lee?" Sensei peered at the new man as if he were unsure of his true identity.

"Yes, Genkei-_san_!" cried the man excitedly. "I have heard—"

The man, Lee, paused in the middle of his excited exclamation. Three kids trailed behind him uncertainly, but they all looked older than Mei. She glanced at her other side to see Mako studying the kids intently. The man leaned in toward _sensei_ and cupped one hand near his mouth.

"I have heard of your joyous reunion with your family." Lee-_san_ acted like he was trying to whisper, but Mei could still hear him quite clearly.

She looked at _sensei_ and wondered if Lee-_san_ knew about _sensei_'s family, about the one he called 'brother' and how every story had a princess in it and about a _shishou_ that had been his only father for years and years — longer than Mei ever wanted to be away from Mako and Kaito.

_Sensei_ turned his head just enough to glance at Uchiha-_san_, giving him a strange look through his eyes like grown-ups sometimes did when they talked without using words. Mei only saw adults do that when she was around, and _sensei_ rarely ever did it, even with his kids. _Sensei_ turned back to Lee-_san_ carefully.

"Reunion?" he questioned.

"Of course!"

Lee-_san_ pumped one fist in the air. The boy with long dark hair behind Lee-_san_ rolled his eyes. It almost looked like he was blind, but Mei couldn't really tell with the way his eyes seemed to move.

"I sincerely hope we will _see_ more of you now that you are returned," Lee-_san_ continued earnestly. He stood up straight and gestured to the three older kids behind him. "We must have a day for our students to get to know one another!"

Mei bit her lip and edged closer to _sensei_.

"That could be interesting," Mako murmured in a thoughtful tone.

Mei looked at her friend, but Mako's eyes were on the three kids by Lee-_san_. Mei looked up and pulled at _sensei_'s hand.

"_Sensei_," she whispered, "shouldn't we go see Kaito-_kun_ now?"

_Sensei_ looked down and nodded suddenly.

"Yeah." He looked back up at the man in green. "Sorry, Lee, but one of my kids is waiting for us."

"Oh, certainly!" Lee-_san_ said immediately. He held out one hand, palm up, to gesture to the hospital. "We shall not keep you any longer from your dutiful quest!"

_Sensei_ nodded a little hesitantly, like he had gotten hit on the head, and started walking into the hospital. They passed by the large desk at the front of the hospital entirely and walked up the stairs to the second floor, where Mei knew Kaito's room was.

"Did you tell him something I should know, _teme_?" _sensei_'s voice asked.

Mei glanced up to see _sensei_ looking at Uchiha-_san_ as he walked. Uchiha-_san_ frowned and didn't look back at _sensei_.

"Inuzuka knew before I did," he answered. "How could I tell him anything, _dobe_?"

"Ah, don't get pissy just because you didn't figure it out on your own."

_Sensei_ didn't sound mad, which was a good thing, Mei thought. Then again, she wasn't really sure what _sensei_ did sound like. It was a little like the time Mei had sat next to _sensei_ when he played _shogi_ with Michi-_san_ and Masao-_san_. Then, Mei looked up and saw a familiar number next to one of the many doors that lined the hallway. That was Kaito's room. Mei released _sensei_'s hand and hurried forward on her own. She grasped the handle of the door and threw it open.

"Kaito-_kun_," she called into the room.

The boy swaddled in the hospital bed sat up straight and turned toward the door. One half of Kaito's mouth turned up in a happy smile as Mei bounded into the room. She could hear Mako following close behind her. Mei climbed up on the bed near Kaito's feet, and Mako socked Kaito lightly on the shoulder.

"Lemme see! Lemme see!" Mei demanded, craning her neck to peer at Kaito's shoulder, the one that he always kept covered.

Mako took the action for him, tugging at Kaito's loose shirt until his neck and his whole left shoulder was showing. The skin was clear, other than being a little pink, like Kaito had scrubbed it too hard when washing. But there was no dark, twisty pattern on his skin proving he belonged to someone other than himself and the small family all of them had made out of each other and _sensei_.

Mei squealed and threw her arms around Kaito. He hugged her and patted her on the back gently. Mei heard a man chuckle and quickly let Kaito go. _Sensei_ stepped up to the bedside and tucked his hands in his pockets.

"How're you feeling, Kaito?" _sensei _asked kindly.

"Better." Kaito nodded down at the sheets that still covered his legs. "I'm sorry we— I'm sorry—"

"Oh, yeah." _Sensei_ scratched his temple with one finger. "I probably should punish you for going off on your own _and_ getting captured by Noboru-_teme_."

Kaito hung his head while Mako looked up at _sensei_ nervously. Mei held her breath as she knelt on the foot of the bed and gazed up at the man in disguise. She wanted to say something; Mako and Kaito had only wanted to help _sensei_. Uchiha-_san_ just stood near the door, ignoring all that was going on in the room.

_Sensei_'s eyes drifted down to the top of Kaito's head. Then he looked at Mako. Mako quickly ducked his head down as well. Mei knew why; even if his eyes were the wrong color, it was really hard to look at _sensei_ when his eyes were disappointed or sad. _Sensei_ sighed and laid one hand on each of the boys' heads.

"I'm glad you're both all right," he said quietly.

Kaito looked up hopefully, and Mako started to smile again. _Sensei_ took back his hands and crossed his arms, looking suddenly very stern.

"And if you ever do anything like that again, I'll truss you up like a prisoner of war and stick you in a closet until you figure out how to get out yourself."

"_Hai_," Kaito squeaked immediately as his eyes widened.

Mako nodded earnestly. Mei shrank a bit into her shoulders. _Sensei_ probably meant it, too.

"So, that's how you keep your students in line?" asked a voice from the doorway.

Mei quickly turned her head to peer into the hallway and found she didn't have to. Hokage-_sama_, the woman with long blonde hair who had said Mei and her family could live with Uchiha-_san_, stood in the doorway of the room with her hands on her hips. Sakura-_hime_ was just behind her, which made Mei feel a little bit better.

"Worked wonders for me." _Sensei _shrugged.

The two ladies stepped into the room, and Hokage-_sama_ headed right for Kaito. Mei slid off the bed and met Sakura-_hime_ halfway into the hospital room. Sakura-_hime_ bent down to smile at Mei.

"Don't worry, Mei-_chan_," she said. "Tsunade-_sama_ is just checking on Kaito's chakra to make sure he's all right."

Mei looked back at the tall woman hovering over Kaito. Her hands were glowing green, like Sakura-_hime_'s sometimes did, so Mei supposed it was all right. Besides, _sensei_ didn't seem worried about it. He stood next to the head of Kaito's bed with his arms still crossed.

Hokage-_sama_ finished in no time at all and turned to face _sensei_.

"There's no trace of anything left of Orochimaru's seal," she announced. "Either the chakra or the hormones."

_Sensei_ smiled and nodded once, like he was passing judgment on a job well done. Mei beamed at Kaito-_kun_ and saw him return a small smile at her.

"I can't tell what it'll mean for his fighting abilities," continued Hokage-_sama_. "There might be some symptoms of withdrawal when he tries to draw on his own chakra and doesn't find any of the augmented strength of the seal."

Mei didn't really understand what all of that meant. There were too many words in the explanation that she didn't recognize.

"But, he'll be okay," Mei tried to turn the answer back to something she knew about.

Hokage-_sama_ and _sensei _both looked at her when she spoke, and Mei tried not to shrink into Sakura-_hime_. Then, _sensei _smiled, and Mei relaxed a little.

"He'll be fine, Mei-_chan_," answered _sensei_. "We just need to work a little harder."

Mei nodded eagerly. _Sensei_ said never to be afraid of hard work, and Mei knew that Kaito would be willing to work hard with _sensei_. Hokage-_sama_ suddenly turned back to _sensei_.

"By the way, I need you and Sasuke in my office to finish your briefing of yesterday's mission," she ordered in a firm voice.

"Finish it?" _Sensei_ frowned at the tall woman.

"You never said that you ran into a _jinchuuriki_."

Mei couldn't see Hokage-_sama_'s face since the lady was facing _sensei_ instead, but her voice sounded like she was angry at _sensei_. _Sensei_ wasn't afraid at all — but then _sensei_ was never afraid. He just dropped his hands to his sides as his face fell into a blank look.

"Oh, right."

Mei knew what a _jinchuuriki_ was. It was what _sensei_ was, because he had a demon inside his belly that he was never allowed to let out. _Sensei_ had said he was one of only two left; he even told the story of Yondaime Hokage and _Kyuubi no Kitsune_ as a bedtime story for Mei. That story was one of Mako's favorites, but Mei liked the stories with princesses in them better.

"I want you and Sasuke in my office in ten minutes," Hokage-_sama_ said to _sensei_. "Shikamaru is already there."

"All right." _Sensei_ nodded. "Kamui's team from Kumo should probably be there, too."

"Why?" demanded Uchiha-_san_.

Mei looked at him in surprise. Uchiha-_san_ had been so quiet that Mei forgot he was there. But still he stood, his arms crossed and his face pulled into a frown. _Sensei_ looked at Uchiha-_san_ when he answered.

"Akatsuki was after their _sensei_, Kirabi." _Sensei_ slipped his hands back into his pockets. He did that a lot when he was talking to people. "They know as much about Akatsuki as . . . as Konoha does."

Mei glanced up at Sakura-_hime_'s face above her and watched the pretty _iryou-nin_ worry her bottom lip with her teeth. Hokage-_sama_ turned her back on the hospital bed and started for the door.

"Fine," she muttered as if it wasn't _really_ fine. "But you'll remain a secret."

Mei quickly looked around the room, trying to tell which one of the people Hokage-_sama_ had been talking to. _Sensei_ sighed, and Mei's eyes turned to him.

"Oh, that'll be fun." _Sensei_ rolled his eyes dramatically.

_Sensei_ was the secret, Mei realized. She had almost forgotten that. True, she had told Sakura-_hime_ what _sensei_'s real name was, and she had shown Hokage-_sama_ what _sensei_ really looked like. But _sensei_ had always said that Konoha couldn't know he was alive. Was something bad going to happen now?

Mei really wished that _sensei_ could go back to how he was, when he took off his mask and only his own face was underneath it, bright eyes and marked cheeks and everything. She wished they could go back to Hafuko. But Hafuko wasn't _sensei_'s home. Konoha was.

**o0O0o**

Omoi followed Karui and Samui into the large office of Godaime Hokage. Their free day in Konoha was largely unremarkable. The village was more densely populated than Omoi had thought, and there was a much greater population of civilians here than in Kumo. Still, Omoi found himself missing the thin air of the mountains of Cloud. The humidity of Hi no Kuni felt oppressive to him.

As soon as Omoi entered the room, he saw Godaime Hokage sitting in her chair with her fingers laced in front of her chin. He didn't know much about the Godaime Hokage, Senju Tsunade, except for her lineage. She was a descendant of the same line that had produced Konoha's first two leaders, and that had to say something about her abilities. Not that Omoi would ever doubt her simply as a matter of gender. He had received too many punches from Karui to think that women were weak as a rule.

Along with the Hokage, three other ninja stood in the room. Omoi recognized Raiden-_sama_ and Uchiha Sasuke immediately. Raiden-_sama_ sat in a large chair in front of the Hokage's desk while Uchiha hovered over the man's shoulder like a skulking vulture. Nevertheless, Omoi felt relieved. The last he had seen Raiden-_sama_, the man had literally disappeared in the middle of the trip to Konoha with only the unhelpful explanation that one of his seals had gone off. Omoi didn't quite know what to make of that, but it was good to see that Raiden-_sama_ was all right.

The third man in the room was someone Omoi didn't recognize. He was obviously Konoha-nin, as evidenced by the _hitai-ate_ displayed brashly across his right arm. He had all the trappings of one of their _jounin_, including the green vest with a red symbol on his back, and a cigarette dangled loosely from his lips, the smoke curling in a thin tail that rose to the ceiling.

Karui sat in a large chair beside Raiden-_sama_ without behind invited. Samui remained standing, which didn't really surprise Omoi. He chose to stand a little ways behind the group. It was basically a rear guard position where he could still see all the people in the room as well as the door behind the majority of the group. It wasn't likely that they had been called to the office just to get attacked, but Omoi knew the benefits of being practical. Like Darui-_senpai_, he wanted to protect his country, and that included his teammates.

The Hokage lowered her hands and surveyed the room. Her eyes came to rest on Raiden-_sama_. Fully aware of the tension in the room, Omoi unwrapped a sucker from his pocket and placed the candy in his mouth, sucking slowly.

"Now do you want to tell me how can Orochimaru have the _bijuu_?" Godaime Hokage demanded in a harsh tone.

Omoi's teeth cracked against his sucker, and he nearly choked on the piece that broke off and slid further down his throat. _That_ was news to him. Heck, even Samui looked surprised by that.

"Akatsuki—"

"Akatsuki's all but dead," Raiden-_sama_ cut off the Hokage before she could fully form her thoughts.

Raiden-_sama_ was missing the mask he had worn when he was in Kumo, Omoi noticed. The dark-skinned ninja pondered what had happened to it in the brief space between Raiden's sentences.

"Naga— Pein thought he would get the world to live in peace," Raiden began, his automatic correction obvious to everyone in the room. "If he had all the _bijuu_, he could just tell everyone not to fight, and they'd be too damn scared of him to do anything about it. I told him not to do it."

The Hokage arched one eyebrow at the young man before her as if she awaited a better explanation.

"You told him . . ?" she repeated incredulously.

"Yeah, while we were fighting." Raiden just nodded as if the concept of getting the leader of the most powerful terrorist group in the world to stop what he was doing simply by request was not a big deal.

Raiden-_sama_ was like that. He had a tendency to dismiss the deeds that only he could do. He still made very little out of the fact that he had once helped Omoi's team defeat the Akatsuki team that had been after Bee-_sensei_. But, on the other hand, Omoi could still remember the heated debate his _sensei_ had gotten into with Raiden over which was cooler: amphibians or cephalopods. Omoi had been sure the two powerful men would end up coming to blows over it.

"Anyway, he never said what happened to the _bijuu_ the Akatsuki already had before he died," continued Raiden. "Konan said she wouldn't touch the statue Akatsuki kept them in, but even she didn't tell me where it was. Actually, I didn't really wanna know."

"Who is Konan?" Karui demanded.

Omoi wondered briefly if Karui was jealous. It was the first time Raiden-_sama_ had ever mentioned a woman's name in company.

"She was Pein's partner." Surprisingly, the answer came from the Konoha jounin Omoi didn't recognize. "According to our intel, she specialized in manipulating paper."

Omoi threw a glance at Samui to see if she knew anything new, but his leader simply stared at the Hokage in return. Godaime seemed to recognize the silent demand as she looked at the Kumo team leader.

"Nara Shikamaru leads our code-breaker team," she explained. "He also works closely with our Intelligence Division."

Samui nodded her acknowledgment to the newly-introduced Nara and then got back on task.

"Would Orochimaru know where Akatsuki was holding the _bijuu_?" she asked the Hokage.

Raiden's quick shake of the head designated him as the responder.

"I don't think so. They only started really hunting _jinchuuriki_ four or five years ago. Orochimaru had his own country by then."

Omoi lifted his chin carefully as he tracked the conversation with his own knowledge of local history. Orochimaru, once one of the _Densetsu no __Sannin_, had left Konohagakure almost fifteen years ago and had established his own village of Otogakure less than nine years ago. The way Omoi understood it from Raiden's initial information, Orochimaru had once been a part of Akatsuki but left to make something out of his own power.

Omoi saw Raiden-_sama_ shrug his shoulders uncomfortably and wondered how the man must feel dredging up an enemy he had supposedly dealt with already. Omoi still didn't know exactly what Raiden's connection with Akatsuki was, but he knew how determined the man had been to defeat the entire organization on his own.

"Even if he did find the statue," Raiden muttered, "the guys we fought in Orochimaru's place weren't _jinchuuriki_."

"How do you know?" Uchiha asked, speaking for the first time.

Omoi still wasn't sure about Uchiha's presence in the room. Everything he had seen of the man had been pretty much unpleasant. Even on the leisurely trip from Kumo back to Konoha, Uchiha had suddenly snapped at Raiden and then spent the rest of the trip pushing both teams to get to Konoha in less than the usual twenty-four hours.

Raiden-_sama_ didn't seem to notice or to partake in any hostility that Uchiha might have wanted to hold on to. He only glanced up at the figure over his shoulder, completely unbothered.

"When you create a host for a _bijuu_," began Raiden, "you have to seal it into a newborn. That's the only way to make a _jinchuuriki_."

His voice was solemn and serious in a way that Omoi had hardly ever heard. His memory was too full of Raiden's absurd reactions to Bee-_sensei_'s rap. Then, Raiden turned in his chair to look from Karui to Samiu.

"Unless you know if Bee can siphon off _Hachibi_'s chakra or something," he proposed to the Kumo-nin.

Omoi wondered for just a moment if that was even possible before Samui cut off any attempts at thought.

"No," she said shortly.

"No, you don't know, or no, he can't do it?" prodded the Nara with his cigarette.

"It's not possible for a _jinchuuriki_ to transfer the _bijuu_'s chakra to another human," Samui answered coldly. "No other body would be able to sustain it."

Omoi frowned and shifted the sucker in his mouth from the inside of one cheek to the other as he thought. He knew how dangerous his own _sensei_ could be when he wanted to be. And he knew that if anyone got close to Bee-_sensei_ when he was channeling the _Hachibi_, the sheer touch of the foreign chakra would burn any human skin. But, there _was_ something that Samui wasn't telling the Konoha nin.

"There were two brothers who were able to use a portion of chakra from _Kyuubi no Kitsune_," Omoi ventured.

Karui shot him a brief glare while Raiden practically threw out his back trying to turn around to look at Omoi. Omoi had never seen such a shocked face on Raiden-_sama_ before, not even when he had discovered that Bee-_sensei_ was a _jinchuuriki_ and that he loved rap.

"What?" demanded the Hokage, looking about as shocked as Omoi had ever seen a leader.

Samui turned her head slowly to look at Omoi with a disappointed glance that made Omoi think his team leader would have preferred his silence over anything. But Omoi couldn't let something like that remain a secret when it was Raiden-_sama_ who was asking. Slowly, Samui turned back to the Hokage and held up one hand in a placating gesture.

"There used to be two brothers in Kumo. They were known as _Kingin Kyoudai_," she said. "Before their deaths, they had been eaten at one time by the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_ and survived in the demon's belly by eating what remnants of meat they found."

"It actually ate people?" Raiden repeated in a tone that was half wonder and half disgust. "I thought that was just—"

His quiet tone dropped off abruptly as Uchiha shot him a quelling glare that Raiden didn't seem to notice. Samui took up her explanation again.

"The _Kingin Kyoudai_ eventually escaped from _Kyuubi_'s belly just from being so tumultuous that the beast vomited them back up."

Raiden snorted at that but didn't say anything more.

"By that time, the brothers had imbued so much of _Kyuubi_'s meat that they retained a portion of the _bijuu_'s chakra," finished Samui. "But they both died years ago."

Nara drew deeply from his cigarette, and the Hokage looked downright disturbed. Omoi knew that, of all the Hidden Villages, Konoha was the one with the longest history with _Kyuubi no Kitsune_. They almost had a monopoly on the beast. Every single host of the _Kyuubi_ had been allied with Konoha, and _Kyuubi_ had been regulated to the village all times except for the few instances where it had roamed free, twenty years ago being the most recent.

"So, he'd need a source of the _bijuu_'s chakra, if not the _bijuu_ itself," Raiden said into the tension.

The Hokage's fierce gaze snapped to the _nuke-nin_.

"You think he does have access to the _bijuu_?"

Raiden shook his head slowly.

"The two people in the Mogami complex felt the same," he said slowly. "They weren't two separate _jinchuuriki_. If Orochimaru has the _bijuu_, he's only using one for now."

The Hokage lowered her hands to rest flat on the large wooden desk in front of her. Her eyes surveyed the mixed group in her office.

"We can't let Orochimaru have the power of even one _bijuu_ to use for his own," she declared. "None of the Elemental Countries have the power to stand up to him. Kumo is the only one whose _jinchuuriki_ wasn't taken by Akatsuki."

"Not the only one," Samui interjected calmly.

Omoi raised his eyebrows as he leaned forward subtly to get a better view of Samui's face. It didn't help much, as Samui only exuded the calm she was renown for. Both Konoha ninja had fixed their eyes on her, while Raiden-_sama_ had turned his head almost sideways in order to give Samui a questioning glance.

"You have Raiden-_sama_," Samui finished.

Raiden's eyebrows rose practically into his light brown hair.

"_Eh_?"

"What do you mean?" Godaime Hokage was a little more eloquent in her confusion.

"Raiden-_sama_ is also a host," Samui informed the Hokage. "He admitted to Kirabi-_sama_ that the reason he knew so much about Akatsuki was because the group was after him as well. Akatsuki was only after the _jinchuuriki_. As Raiden-_sama_ is now in your employ, you do have a way to combat Orochimaru's latest experiments."

The Hokage stared at Samui coldly. Omoi wondered if this was the part where his team would be thrown out. Kumo had never had very good relations with Konoha— Suddenly, Raiden threw his hands up in the air in a gesture that induced more exasperation than surrender.

"Why do I even bother keeping secrets?" he demanded to thin air.

Rolling the sucker over his tongue, Omoi remembered something. Raiden-_sama_, that first time that he had introduced himself to Bee-_sensei_ and his team, had said that Akatsuki was collecting the _bijuu_ in their natural order. They had two left to capture at the time: _Hachibi_ and _Kyuubi_. That would mean that Raiden was the host for the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_, the _bijuu_ that had always been connected with Konohagakure.

The Hokage transferred her glare from Samui to Raiden, and Omoi was surprised when Raiden-_sama_ flinched under the power of her look.

"We need to focus on Orochimaru," the leader finally said.

"I might have something to help with that, actually." Raiden shifted in his seat as if he were uncomfortable.

Omoi watched the focus in the room sudden zero in on Raiden.

"I've got some seals from when I was working on Kaito's seal," continued Raiden. "I was trying to separate the chakra from the _Ten no Juuin_ from Kaito's own chakra and freeze it somehow."

"Could you cut off the chakra just from the _bijuu_ in these shinobi Orochimaru has?" pressed the Hokage.

Raiden's eyebrows rose until he looked as surprised as he had when Samui had potentially exposed his secret. Then, he looked to the ceiling as if he were going to read the answers out of thin air.

"I think I can," Raiden finally replied, "but I can't guarantee the Oto guys will swallow my spitballs."

He grinned at the Hokage at the end. Omoi furrowed his brows together in confusion. He wasn't sure which was more bizarre: the fact that Raiden was talking about attacking his enemy with spitballs or the fact that the Hokage looked like she was taking him seriously. But then, maybe Omoi shouldn't be surprised by a man who used to challenge Bee-_sensei_ to what amounted to verbal face-offs.

"I need to go over it again." Raiden hand one hand through his hair as he thought. "Maybe Kakashi— Hatake Kakashi could look at it?"

The Hokage seemed to consider this for a moment then nodded.

"All right, go find him and report back when you have something."

Raiden stood immediately and tapped Uchiha on the shoulder as he started to walk out.

"C'mon, _teme_," Raiden's excited voice echoed back to the people still in the room. "Maybe we can get Sakura-_chan_ to go for ramen."

**o0O0o**

Naruto grinned as he slurped up the savory noodles; it was actually a difficult task, but he had managed to master it at a very early age. The kids on his left seemed just as eager for the meal as he was. Mako was shoveling his ramen into his mouth at a rate that almost put Naruto to shame, while Kaito was eating with more relish than Naruto had seen from the boy since they had gotten to Konoha. Mei was on the end of the counter, eating more slowly but still just as happy.

Naruto had good kids.

On Naruto's other side, he had finally gotten his entire team to go with him for Ichiraku's ramen. Sasuke and Sakura sat on his immediate right; although Sasuke of course had refused to order anything. Further down the line, Sai was swirling his chopstick around his noodle bowl idly. Kakashi-_sensei_ seemed to be the only one actually interested in eating, but Naruto supposed that was simply because his mask forced him to eat so fast that no one got a chance to see his face. Naruto still remembered that one event when he had been a genin. If it hadn't been for Iruka-_sensei_'s stupid timing.

"_Sensei,_" Mako called. "I'm done. Can I go?"

Naruto looked down at his oldest with a bit of a frown.

"Where do you plan on going?" he asked.

"I was talking to some other kids while you were talking with the Hokage," Mako answered. "The ones that came in the hospital with that guy we saw outside."

"Lee?" Naruto tried to confirm.

Mako just shrugged, apparently not bothered enough to learn grown-ups' names.

"Yoshi and Isamu said they knew a good place for training once we got out of the hospital," Mako said.

Naruto remembered Lee's new genin students. He was a little surprised that the genin team was apparently so willing to train with the students of a _nuke-nin_ like Raiden. Then again, Mako wore his new _hitai-ate_ everywhere he went, so there was the chance that Lee's students didn't realize who Mako's _sensei_ was.

"All right, you can go," he declared.

Mako practically vaulted from the ramen counter, pausing only long enough to let Kaito finish his bowl and join him on the floor.

"Wait for me!" Mei called after the boys.

"_Oi_!"

Naruto's call was enough to make the boys pause while Mei climbed down from the stool and hurried toward them. Mako rolled his eyes at Naruto, who shot what he hoped was a quelling look at the boy. Mako was good at taking care of Mei, but Naruto knew Mako probably wanted some time being a normal kid, which for him would mean training with others his age, and the training would be good for Kaito. In the meantime, this worked out well; Naruto wanted some time with people his own age, too.

"Don't let Kaito overdo it," ordered Naruto.

"Don't worry, _sensei_." Kaito waved enthusiastically. "I can still kick his ass."

Mako let out a cry of protest as he followed Kaito's rapid retreat into the street. Mei tagged along, giving one last wave over her shoulder at the adults still lined up along the counter. Naruto caught Sakura looking at him as he turned back to his noodles. Unable to help himself, he grinned widely at her.

"I got good kids, _ne_?"

He got a tilted head from Sai in response to that.

"You had children?" Sai asked in a voice that was almost wondrous.

Naruto _really_ didn't want to think about how Sai's mind could go from calling him "dickless" to thinking he had sired three kids who were too old to be his real children.

"They're my students," Naruto answered quickly. "Kind of."

Actually, he only really taught Mako and Kaito any shinobi tricks. Mei was a little young for any jutsu he felt comfortable teaching, but she was still his responsibility.

"You act very much like their father," noted Sai.

Naruto twisted his head on its side in a reflection of Sai's curious pose.

"I've always made my own family," he said. "Those kids are mine."

Sai seemed to take his answer for what Naruto meant it as, so Naruto concentrated for a moment on eating his ramen. He was already on his second bowl.

"Anyway, they're part of Konoha now, so they'll be safe." Naruto caught a noodle stuck on his chin with his tongue. "Even from Danzo.

He added the last part as a mutter under his breath, just in case anyone he didn't really trust was listening in.

"Why were you so determined to make them wards if you were worried about their safety?" Sakura asked.

Naruto raised one shoulder in a shrug. Of all questions, Naruto _really_ didn't want to answer this one.

"Just in case I had to die."

"What?" Sakura immediately responded.

Naruto _felt_ the way Sasuke's eyes burned into him even without looking up. Sasuke was gonna hate this.

"I had to make a plan, Sakura-_chan_," he answered blandly. He looked up at Sakura, focusing on her because he didn't think he'd be able to look at anyone else. "Most of the jutsu I was planning on using are risky. _Kamikaze _was an option, but I've been studying the _Shiki Fuuin_."

"You've been studying _what_?"

Kakashi-_sensei_'s voice stayed quiet, but it was almost worse that way. Everyone at the table would know every instance that _Shiki Fuuin_ had been used by a Konoha ninja in the last twenty years. Kakashi was the only one who would have known both users personally. But it was certainly not a technique that Kakashi had taught his student. The only reason Naruto knew it was because he had convinced Gamabunta to teach him just in case Pein pulled out something unexpected during their battle.

But everyone would know the consequences of _Shiki Fuuin_. They'd know he was willing to die.

"What's _Kamikaze_?" Sasuke interjected with disgusting calmness.

Naruto's head jerked up to look at Sasuke. With his hands empty, Sasuke looked perhaps the most out of place in the ramen stand, but his question definitely caught the attention of the others. Sakura glanced between Sasuke and Naruto, having never heard the jutsu name before, while Kakashi apparently recovered from the reference to a sealing jutsu tilted his head in a way that made him seem curious rather than demanding.

"Your students have mentioned it before," explained Kakashi easily.

Naruto sighed as his shoulders slumped.

"It's exactly what it sounds like, Kakashi-_sensei_." He realized only after he had spoken how defeated he sounded.

"A divine wind from the gods, _dobe_?" Sasuke scoffed.

Naruto couldn't even bring himself to snap at the insult like he usually would. He only hung his head down as if he would fall right into his bowl of ramen.

"More like from a demon," he muttered.

Naruto glanced up, looking at the mostly deserted ramen stand.

"We probably shouldn't talk here."

Even in Konoha, Naruto knew not everyone was on his side. Besides, there could still be village secrets that he really shouldn't spill so carelessly. Naruto dug into his pocket and tossed enough coins on the counter to pay for four meals. If his kids kept eating ramen this way, he was actually going to have to start limiting himself. But then he rose, tucked his hands into his pockets, and led the way out of Ichiraku's Ramen Stand and into the street.

Sasuke immediately took a position on his right. Naruto didn't know what the bastard was so worried about; he already knew Naruto wasn't going to run away. Sakura was on his left, with Sai next to her. Kakashi walked slightly behind Naruto's right shoulder instead of continuing the line that they made walking down the busy street. Naruto didn't really mind. Kakashi's presence at his back felt safe and familiar, and it acted as a barrier between Team Seven and the rest of the people on the street.

"Sakura-chan, you know how I used the _Rasenshiruken_ to kill Kakuzu?" Naruto began.

Sakura shot him a glare meant to keep him quiet, but Naruto ignored it. He had actually had to learn some degree of espionage while he had been fighting in Ame, and it came in useful. He hadn't known before how hard it was to track a moving conversation. When Sakura nodded, Naruto relaxed a little.

"Remember what Tsunade-_baa-chan_ said it did to his insides?" he contined.

Sakura's softened look quickly disappeared in the face of her abject disapproval.

"I remember it did the same thing to your arm," she retorted.

Naruto flinched at both Sakura's anger and the memory of that particular result. He had spent several days with his right arm bandaged from the tips of his fingers to nearly his shoulder. But he waved Sakura's comment off as if it didn't matter. Really, the most annoying part was trying to handle chopsticks with his left hand. Naruto had never told anyone that there had been a point when he woke up and couldn't feel his fingers. But he still had one good hands, and if that was all he'd get, that would be all he'd need.

And then he had learned _senjutsu _and it had become a moot point since natural chakra translated to a much easier way to manipulate _Fuuton_.

"Yeah, but I perfected that part," Naruto said with his careless wave. "This was . . . This was an accident."

Naruto doubted that Sai had been able to hear his quiet confession for as quiet as he was. Naruto hated talking about this.

"What was?" pressed Sai. Apparently he _had _heard the admittance.

"Asahi."

The word fell from Naruto's mouth like a curse. He hated talking about this. No one ever wanted to know anything about Asahi. Even when he had been only Raiden, the only time anyone had brought Asahi up was to make a point about Raiden's feelings toward Orochimaru. No one asked him how he did it or why. And now he was talking about it without _anyone_ having asked. What the heck was wrong with him?

"It was the first time the fox got out since we fought that guy and brought Sasuke back."

His voice sounded tired even to his own ears. He spoke most to his left side, although he couldn't help the way he instinctively turned toward Kakashi at the mention of the last mission he had ever taken — officially — for Konoha. Sasuke, Naruto noticed, hadn't moved a muscle except to propel himself forward. Naruto forced himself to look ahead and then led the way around a corner he knew would take them all to the training grounds.

"It was like _Rasengan_, but . . . I took the fox's chakra and wrapped it around me, like I was the center of _Rasengan_." Naruto cupped his hands and gestured around himself in a circle to show how the jutsu worked. "Then I just . . . pushed."

Naruto's raised hands gave a half-hearted shove away from his body to demonstrate. He didn't meet any of the sharp eyes he felt on him. He was too busy picturing himself as the center of a swirling ball of chakra, crimson instead of blue like it should be. And he didn't want anyone else to see what he did in his eyes.

"That's why there were no wounds," Sakura breathed in realization. "You destroyed their cells."

She sounded a cross between disgusted and frightened, and Naruto _hated_ doing that to her. He never wanted to see her scared, not of him.

"Yeah." Naruto nodded slowly.

They could just skip the next part, right? It was bad enough he had started talking about his one greatest failing.

"You students didn't seem pleased with that jutsu," Kakashi noted.

Naruto shrugged, even though he knew Kakashi would be right. Although Kaito was the only one who had seen that jutsu firsthand, all three of his kids had witnessed the aftermath for Naruto himself.

"Is that because of the damage to your enemies or to you?"

Naruto stopped in the middle of the road and turned to face Kakashi. He was kind of surprised Kakashi didn't run into him due to the sudden stop, but he supposed that wouldn't be very ninja-like. Sakura's eyes widened to a look of utter horror.

"You mean it had the same effect?" she asked breathlessly.

Naruto grimaced and started walking again. He was the only one, though. He could feel the rest of his team searing holes into his back as he tried desperately to ignore every one of them.

"Answer her, _dobe_," Sasuke growled.

Naruto spun on his heel to glare at Sasuke's hot stare. Except looking at Sasuke meant he also caught a glimpse of Sakura — who looked absolutely terrified — and Sai — who was doing a pretty good impression of a gaping fish for a guy who supposedly didn't know how to emote. Even Kakashi had removed his hands from his pockets and stared at Naruto with his exposed eye wide open.

"I didn't die," Naruto protested half-heartedly.

Sai tilted his head again, curiously.

"That wasn't really the question," he stated.

Naruto rolled his eyes. At least Sai's way of stating the problem brought out more exasperation than anger. Naruto could deal with that.

"It had the same effect." He ran his hand through his hair and shrugged as if his answer wouldn't matter. "But on my whole body instead of just my arm."

"Naruto . . ." Sakura breathed and then parted her lips as if the mere action would let her words escape her throat.

Naruto's teeth came together behind tightly closed lips as he tried not to give in to the need to chew on his lip or the inside of his cheek. He turned a twitch of his lips into a half-smile.

"The kids took care of me," he reassured her.

That was true. Naruto had only gotten himself and Kaito out of Ta no Kuni by virtue of a simple _Shunshin_ and the _Hiraishin_ seal he kept in Hafuko. Once Mako and Mei had seen how injured he was, Naruto found the typical roles in his little household strangely reversed. Mei had taken a command of the cooking, cleaning, and other household chores with a vengeance Naruto usually only saw in _iryou-nin_, especially those with the power to punch him into the next village. Maybe his stories meant more to her than he thought. Meanwhile, Mako had manned Naruto's small carpentry and furniture shop with all the maturity of a boy who had been forced to grow up too fast. And Kaito had gotten his first introduction to the family taking care of a man who had saved him from rice fields and deposited him in a rainy plateau. Kaito never seemed to mind the upheaval, though.

Naruto shrugged again and turned to lead the way back down the street to the green field.

"Anyway, I had to get Kaito out of there," he finished in a solid tone.

"Why do you care so much about that kid?" Sasuke demanded, suddenly at his right shoulder once again.

Naruto glanced to his side and wondered just how fast Sasuke could move when he wanted to. Naruto had barely felt his presence before he was just suddenly _there_. A sly smile threatened to overtake his features. Maybe he could get Sasuke-_teme_ to spar with him once more while the kids were busy. Naruto's face quickly fell again as he thought of the best answer to Sasuke's question.

"A lot of things went wrong in Asahi," he said. _The mission, the fox, the damn jutsu he never meant to invent_. "But I couldn't just leave a kid who never wanted to belong to _hebi-teme_ in the first place. Not when I could save him."

Sasuke said nothing; he didn't even look guilty at the idea that Naruto couldn't save Sasuke when he had first gone to Orochimaru. But maybe that was more Naruto's idea than Sasuke's. Naruto shook his head helplessly and continued treading down the quieter road.

"Where are we going?" Sai asked curiously.

"I wanted to show Kakashi-_sensei_ one of my seals."

Naruto's voice automatically grew louder now that they weren't discussing such heavy subjects as his possible death. He threw a cheeky glance over his shoulder.

"Ya don't mind using your house for a reunion, right, Sasuke-_teme_?" he tossed out just to see if Sasuke would react.

It was barely discernable, but Naruto still saw the way Sasuke's forehead twitched in his effort not to glare. Naruto laughed and led the way into the Uchiha Complex with his team, the ones that had been his first and only family for a long time.

**o0O0o**

Asahi sat firmly in the southwest corner of Ta no Kuni, nearly on the border of Tetsu no Kuni and not very far from the northern sea. The land around it was flat and irrigated from the wide river that flowed north. Most of the rice patties had been abandoned and left to flood and overgrow their boundaries. After the attack, no one wanted to settle near Asahi any longer, and the _damiyo_ didn't see any pressing need to keep Asahi as a rice-trading center when he had other villages that weren't so directly associated with his ninja forces.

So Asahi was left for posterity as a ghost town. The noises that rose up as if from the very earth beneath the town helped that perspective, although Noboru suspected the noises had mostly to do with the sight he currently dragged his eyes over. Within the base hidden under Asahi's quaint appearance, every one of Orochimaru's soldiers, from genin to jounin, either sat or stood in a large hollowed-out bunker awaiting instructions.

At least half a dozen of the figures were of the same basic age and strength as the Inashita Brothers. They were six of the original twenty test subjects that had survived the attempt to inject a foreign chakra into the subject's chakra network. Noboru admittedly didn't know much about the experiments that dealt with that foreign chakra, the one that looked sickly green. His specialty was poison and bio-chemistry, so Orochimaru had set him on the project of weaponized poisons and improving the _Ten no Juuin_.

Noboru couldn't really be disgruntled at his exclusion concerning some of Orochimaru's more audacious experiments. Chakra manipulation was not his forte, and besides he wasn't sure he was entirely comfortable with the prospect of working closely with a visibly poisonous green chakra that had a tendency to burn away human skin, even on its user.

"Impressive," murmured a voice exceedingly close to Noboru's ear.

Noboru did not jump out of the sheer fact that he had not allowed himself any extraneous gestures in Orochimaru's presence since he had first become the man's right-hand shinobi. He only turned his head enough to meet his leader's strangely yellow eyes and raised one eyebrow in a curious expression.

"Indeed," Noboru said mildly.

He actually thought it was quite foolish to gather the entirety of Oto's fighting force in one place. But he had a feeling Orochimaru wouldn't appreciate the sentiment. Looking down into the pit, Noboru saw the Oto jounin dispersed among the shinobi. Every so often a jounin would stop to talk to a cluster of shinobi.

"They have a plan of attack, then?" Noboru gestured to one of the jounin leaders.

"Not quite yet," Orochimaru noted absently. "They are giving out the new status on Raiden."

Noboru felt his eyebrows fly up on his brow in an incredulous expression before he quickly pulled them back down into a merely puzzled frown.

"New status?" he repeated.

"Raiden is more valuable to me dead than alive."

Noboru stared at the milling crowd below him instead of at the man at his side. He still felt the need to glower desperately. Orochimaru had always been after Raiden-_sama_. Even after the destruction of Asahi, Orochimaru had been determined to have Raiden-_sama_ as an ally somehow, through persuasion, intimidation, or brute force. Noboru had studied enough of the mysterious man to know that he considered the leader of Otogakure an enemy, and Orochimaru's change of Raiden's status was not likely to change in Raiden's mind. So why had Orochimaru change his own?

Noboru himself was more interested in Raiden than in the work Orochimaru had him do. Really, one of the main purposes of the _Ten no Juuin_ was to prepare a body to receive Orochimaru's spirit so that the twisted man could go on living. But it was Noboru's professional opinion that whatever Raiden's method of avoiding death, it was better than Orochimaru's. Noboru was aware of every single foreign hormone, chemical, and additive he had to add to a person's body in conjunction with the _Ten no Juuin_. Raiden-_sama_ only seemed to need his own body and chakra.

"You are to go around to the following genin." Orochimaru suddenly handed a scroll off to Noboru, crashing into the younger man's train of thought.

Noboru took the scroll with a small amount of annoyance that he made sure to keep concealed and unwrapped the scroll to see a long list of names trailing down the paper.

"They are to receive all the proper injections to prepare them for the _Ten no Juuin_," finished Orochimaru.

Noboru's eyes shot up to Orochimaru automatically. The list he had in his hands was extensive, and Norobu could take a guess at its length simply by the thickness of the scroll. It seemed long enough to hold the entire roster of Oto genin. There was no way Orochimaru would need so many of his soldiers imbued with the Heaven Seal. It was supposed to be primarily a way to prepare a body for the transfer of Orochimaru's consciousness. Noboru knew that lately Orochimaru had been distributing the seal much more freely to his shinobi, especially the genin, as a means of strengthening the younger ninja in a very short amount of time. But even that "privilege" was rare and competitive.

"Why so many?" Noboru asked bluntly.

"The first wave to attack the walls of Konoha will be much more effective if they are harder to kill," Orochimaru answered.

There were several things wrong with Orochimaru's philosophy, not least of which was the way he was using the seal that Noboru had worked so hard to perfect.

"The _Ten no Juuin_ would be more effective if spread out rather than concentrated in a . . . wave," Noboru retorted.

Noboru thought it would work better if the certain shinobi who were already endowed with Orochimaru's _Ten no Juuin —_ which was always complemented with Noboru's own cocktail of bio-chemical agents — were partnered with regular teams and then distributed evenly at each of Konoha's weakest points. The shinobi who bore the seal could then wreak havoc in the village while the teams provided back-up and prevented the Konoha forces from reaching the cursed shinobi until the most damage was done.

"They do not need to be effective." Orochimaru didn't even bother to use his hands to gesture in making his point. "They only need to attract attention."

They were cannon fodder, Noboru realized. All his work on making the _Ten no Juuin_ a more effective weapon and strengthening agent was now being used to give Konoha a pest control problem. Noboru knew Orochimaru considered himself at war with Konoha; there was little in the man's convoluted past with that village that Noboru would consider friendly. But Noboru had never been interested in Orochimaru's personal war. He had agreed to work for the man because Orochimaru had resources that no one else could get, not even the leaders of the Elemental Countries. But this plan . . . this was just a waste. Orochimaru turned his eyes fully onto Noboru with an expectant gaze.

"You had better get started immediately, Noboru-kun," he stated. "We will start for Konoha by first light tomorrow."

Noboru fought back a scowl as he faced Orochimaru. That sort of timeline hardly gave him enough time to prepare all the individuals on the list. The ones he managed to get to last would still be fighting off feelings of weakness and extreme emotions when they started to Konoha. Noboru was only fortunate that the process of being sealed — or, dying, as Orochimaru liked to call it — was no longer necessary to unleash the full potential of the _Ten no Juuin_.

"And this is your plan?" Noboru eyed the scroll in his hand with distaste.

"If you disagree, Noboru-kun, I'm sure I could find another capacity for you to serve."

Noboru glanced at Orochimaru. Somehow he doubted the offer was a strictly sincere one. If he wasn't working on perfecting Orochimaru's experiments, it was likely he'd find himself on the other end of his own needle. Noboru rolled the scroll around itself again with a flick of his wrist. He turned and started down the stairs caved into the side of the deep cavern.

"This will take some time," he said unapologetically.

"By all means," Orochimaru answered.

Noboru could tell without looking that Orochimaru was giving his back a wide, slippery smile.

**o0O0o**

Sakura woke shortly after daybreak out of sheer force of habit. She slithered out from under the covers on the futon without waking the girl beside her. Mei, Kaito, and Mako had come in late last night, missing supper completely. The boys were both bruised and dirty and looked like they had gone through a thorough roll-around in a field. Sakura had to admit, it was nice seeing the two act like regular boys instead of the cautious apprentices of a nuke-nin, one boy determined to be an adult and the other struggling against a seal that acted like a ghost determined to possess him.

Sakura ran her fingers through her short hair to work the tangles out and got dressed silently. It had been a late night. Even after the kids came home, she had stayed up with Kakashi, Sai, Sasuke, and Naruto. Part of the conversation had been very serious, an explanation of what the team had found in Orochimaru's hideout, but the rest of it had been lighthearted. Sakura had relayed her experience in the Jounin Exams. She had been tested by Kanden Tekuno, a jounin who specialized in explosions and traps and had a tendency to be a braggart. Naruto had laughed out loud when Sakura described how she disarmed all of his traps simply by breaking up the ground around them with a super punch.

Sakura slipped through the paper door into the hallway and tiptoed down the wooden floor toward the other rooms. It was nearly silent in the house, most of the noises were of early morning sounds outside. Sakura peeked into the room that Mako typically shared with Kaito, only to find Sai sleeping on the futon inside. Kakashi and Sai had both stayed so late that they just fell asleep in one of the rooms, after Sakura had invited them to stay rather than traverse Konoha. Really, it wouldn't be that much of a bother for either of them to slip out and go back home, but Sakura wanted them here. She wanted the entire team under one roof, and there was no logical explanation for it. It wasn't as if their living together would make them any less susceptible to spies or attacks, or even inter-team quarrels like she suspected Naruto had been avoiding for all their sakes', but Sakura still felt like they should spend as much time as possible making up for what they lost.

She closed the door again and turned to the one opposite it: Naruto's room. She was a little less than surprised when she found all the occupants of the room still asleep. Kaito and Mako had taken over the futon, sleeping back to back with the covers pulled up to both their chins. Kaito was practically buried in the blankets. Sakura smiled and turned her eyes on to the last boy in the room. Naruto lay on a single blanket beside the futon, drawing in heavy breaths through his parted lips. Sakura slid the paper door closed again with extra care.

Sakura peeked into the final room briefly on her way back down the hall. The futon was already rolled up, and the blankets lay folded neatly beside the bedding. Other than the sleeping place and linens, the room was practically stark. Of course, Sasuke probably didn't think little things like personal touches were necessary. She slid the door shut again and snuck down the hall into the larger living space of the house.

"Ah, good morning, Sakura."

Sakura turned toward the calm voice in the kitchen to see Kakashi sitting cross-legged by the low table in the kitchen. His mask was firmly in place, but his hitai-ate and jounin vest were both missing. Scraps and squares of paper were spread out in front of him.

"Is Sasuke here somewhere?" she asked, glancing around as if she would spot Sasuke hiding behind a _shoji_ somewhere.

"He said he had an errand to run," replied Kakashi easily. "He should be back soon."

Sakura nodded slowly and sat down at the table opposite of Kakashi.

"Naruto and Sai are still sleeping," she reported quietly. "Along with the kids."

"_Aa_." Kakashi's head slumped in what may have been a thoughtful nod. "Naruto is very good with his kids."

"He is," acknowledged Sakura.

She watched Kakashi's one open eye travel over the papers in front of him. Part of the conversation last night had been strictly on how to combat Orochimaru's newest perversion, with Naruto bringing out square pieces of paper that held a seal Sakura couldn't even begin to understand. Kakashi-_sensei_ had, though, and he and Naruto had spent quite a bit of time talking about _bijuu_ and _jinchuuriki_ and seals, a conversation Sakura hadn't quite followed. But all the while, she had felt inexplicably proud of Naruto simply for having the ability to have the conversation with Kakashi.

"He's changed so much," Sakura murmured.

Kakashi's head rose, almost imperceptibly for others, but it was noticeable for Sakura, who had trained since she was thirteen to see underneath the underneath.

"I don't think so," Kakashi said mildly. "He's still very dedicated to protecting his precious people."

"I know." Sakura nodded. "That's not what I meant."

She knew, in essentials, Naruto remained much as he always was. She blushed as she remembered the way he had teased her in that border village near Ame no Kuni. He still slept the same way, too, with his limbs all over the place. He always slept with his mouth slightly open and had a tendency to snore. He had the uncanny ability to fall asleep within five minutes of lying down. Or at least he always had when Sakura remembered camping out on missions with him.

"We'll get him back, right, _sensei_?"

The words slipped from Sakura's mouth before she was quite conscious of her tongue forming them. She swallowed quickly as Kakashi raised his head and looked at her curiously with one eye closed in his nearly-permanent wink.

"We won't let Danzo manipulate him anymore," Sakura clarified quietly.

She wanted Naruto back the way he had always been. Sure, he looked like Naruto, and most of the time he acted like Naruto as well, with his rash but serious promises and reckless way of caring for those closest to him. But there were sometimes hints that Naruto had changed in his time away from Konoha. He was quieter now, or at least Raiden was. And Sakura wasn't sure how much of Raiden was actually Naruto.

The skin around Kakashi's eyes crinkled in a masked smile.

"It won't be easy," he said slowly, "but we'll do it."

Sakura took a deep, reassuring breath. For some reason, it just made it seem a little more truthful to hear that statement from Kakashi.

"What's not easy?" yawned a sleepy voice from the hallway.

Sakura turned abruptly and saw the very interesting sight of Naruto, still in his sleep clothes, stretching both arms over his head as he padded barefoot in the living area. One hand rose to sweep back the golden hair from his forehead. It was much longer than Sakura remembered it, but she thought it suited him.

"Good morning, Naruto," Kakashi chirped instead of answering Naruto's question.

"Do you want some breakfast?" Sakura asked, forcefully chasing the more serious thoughts out of her head for now.

Naruto waved her off with one hand and headed into Sasuke's kitchen.

"I can make it, Sakura-_chan_," he assured her.  
Sakura raised a dubious eyebrow.

"Really?"

She tended not to have a lot of confidence in ninja cooking skills as a general rule; it wasn't like cooking was one of the requisite classes at the Academy. Besides, she wasn't sure she had ever seen Naruto make any sort of edible meal.

"I can cook!" Naruto protested. "What do you think I fed my kids?"

He had a point, and the kids had never shown any signs of malnourishment, but Sakura couldn't quite resist the obvious jab.

"Ramen," she stated.

She fully expected at least the next three minutes to be filled with a passionate elegy on ramen. Instead, Naruto only shrugged his shoulders carelessly.

"Only sometimes."

Sakura blinked in surprise. She supposed that the absolute lack of childish defense of a food would be another sign that Naruto had matured in his time away. So why did she suddenly miss the way he would get so passionate about the stupidest things?

"That way they appreciated it more as the greatest food in the world!"

Naruto grinned widely over his shoulder, and Sakura took back everything she had thought about Naruto's level of maturity.

"So, what's on the agenda today?" Naruto asked brightly as he poured a handful of rice into a pot. "Any more meetings with _baa-chan_?"

"We're expected to report back to her once we've figured out this seal." Kakashi held up one of the square pieces of paper between two fingers. "Did you have plans, Naruto?"

Naruto lifted one shoulder into a shrug again.

"I kinda wanna take Kaito and Mako out for training and see how Kaito's chakra is recovering," he answered.

Kakashi nodded thoughtfully.

"Sounds like a good idea," the gray-haired man said. "You might as well take Sakura and Sai with you. Sakura can keep an eye on Kaito's health."

Naruto turned to Sakura with a wide grin at the prospect of having his team along with his students. Then, he suddenly looked at Kakashi curiously.

"You're not coming, Kakashi-_sensei_?" His voice turned a bit pleading, sounding much more like the teenager Sakura had long thought of him as.

Kakashi waved the inked seal through the air and hunched over the low table again.

"I think I want to study this seal a bit more."

"All right," Naruto agreed readily and turned back to his breakfast preparations. "Hey, where'd Sasuke-_teme_ go?"

"Just on a quick errand, Naruto," Sakura replied quickly.

Naruto looked incredibly pensive for a moment before he shook his head as if his thoughts didn't really matter in the grand scheme of things.

"Well, if he misses breakfast, it's his own damn fault," Naruto finally said.

"Did someone say breakfast?"

Sakura smiled at the sight of Mako leading Kaito through the _fusuma_ door of the hallway. Kaito was still rubbing at his eyes, and his dark hair looked horribly tangled. Sakura hadn't seen much of the boys — or Naruto, for that matter — so early in the morning. Usually the boys didn't emerge into the living area until they had at least washed their faces and dressed for the day. And before today, she hadn't seen Naruto without his disguise at all, much less in the early morning hours. Looking at the disheveled family that had wormed its way into Konoha merely by virtue of Naruto's usual persistence, Sakura grinned and ordered the boys to help her set the table for breakfast.

**o0O0o**

"I heard he can sever a man's head with just his hand."

"Must have sharp fingers, then."

"C'mon, don't you believe me? Raiden-_san_ is almost as infamous as Sharingan no Kakashi."

Sasuke ignored, mostly, the easy banter between the two jounin stationed at Konoha's main gate to the south. He had never considered Kotetsu and Izumo very contributing members of the jounin rank. He wasn't even sure why a pair of jounin were being wasted on checking visitors in and out of Konoha's gates. Perhaps Tsunade thought Orochimaru would try to sneak in under the cover of a new identity or a familiar Konoha resident who became suddenly possessed. Sasuke didn't think it was likely. Both sneak attacks were definitely within the realm of Orochimaru's capabilities, but neither seemed like his style with this war. Ever since the destruction of Asahi, Orochimaru had become more blatant in his aggressions toward Konoha. Had he known who was responsible for that destruction?

No, Sasuke frowned to himself as he paced the top of the concrete wall near the torii gate that overshadowed the entrance to the village. If Orochimaru had known who it was that had destroyed his base in the middle of the rice paddies, he never would have offered Raiden a chance to join Oto. Even Orochimaru would know better than to ask Uzumaki Naruto to betray Konoha.

Come to think of it, Naruto had defended his student rather forcefully while in Orochimaru's lair. Sasuke remembered how livid Naruto had seemed when Orochimaru referred to Kaito as his own personal belonging. It was strange seeing that kind of cold anger from Naruto. Hadn't he always been ready to fly off the handle at a moment's notice? But then, Sasuke couldn't say that he was an expert on all things Naruto. What he knew, he had only deduced because Naruto had always been such a focus for him. From the time he had been genin to the time he had left Naruto at the side of the river; every time Orochimaru hinted that Naruto had been sighted and every time he let his mind wander outside of his dedicated goal; from the time he woke in Konoha's hospital to the point he had stood at the edge of a crowd mourning the loss of one of the brightest among them simply in terms of attitude. Naruto had always planted himself firmly within Sasuke's sight.

That had never changed, Sasuke realized. He had already accepted that the bond he had with Naruto was not as easily broken as he suspected. Whether because Sasuke was too weak to let go of his first real friend or because Naruto was strong enough to keep a hold on Sasuke out of stubborn doggedness, they were knitted together. Not even Naruto's death had changed that. But Sasuke had gotten used to relating to a Naruto who was dead. Now he had to deal with a Naruto who was much taller than Sasuke had anticipated, who stopped by side roads to feed his students, and who told his kids _bedtime stories_.

He was an idiot, Sasuke thought spitefully. How could he think to give what Naruto must have seen as his most important task, protecting the village he loved, to a young man who professed that he'd rather be dead than back in Konoha? But Naruto trusted him. That hadn't changed among everything else that had. His humor, his teasing, the way he protected those closest to him; all the important things about Naruto had still been present even when he masqueraded as Raiden. Sasuke was actually surprised he hadn't realized it sooner. Then again, Naruto was _supposed_ to be dead, and Sasuke was not in the habit of welcoming friends back from the dead. He suddenly scoffed. Then again, it was just like Naruto to refuse to allow a little thing like death to stop him.

"Idiot," Sasuke murmured with a sense of fond exasperation.

Sasuke gave the pair of jounin below him a glance then turned away from the gate and proceeded to march along the wall back toward the Uchiha Complex. Now that Naruto was alive — or rather, now that others _knew_ he was alive, there were other things to consider. Naruto himself had said that the only person who knew of his identity under the mask of Raiden was Danzo. Sasuke drew in the crisp morning air slowly through his nose as he flexed his fingers deliberately to prevent himself from digging his fingernails into his palms. It wouldn't help him at all, and it was a pointless action, driven by anger. He would approach this problem calmly and come to a rational solution.

Besides, Danzo might not be the only danger. Sasuke didn't know how much information the other countries had on _jinchuuriki_, but the delegation from Kumo obviously knew enough to identify Raiden as the host for _Kyuubi_. The kunoichi never said if she knew that Uzumaki Naruto was that same host, but it wasn't insurmountable to suppose others would make that connection. Like Orochimaru. Sasuke's eyes narrowed. Orochimaru was familiar enough with Konoha to know exactly who the _jinchuuriki_ for _Kyuubi no Kitsune _was. Sasuke didn't think there was anything in the brief battle within Orochimaru's lair that would incite Orochimaru's suspicions, but then he had been somewhat distracted by his own fight when Orochimaru had broken free of his bonds to engage Sasuke directly.

And now Orochimaru might have, if not a _jinchuuriki_ of his own, at least access to the chakra of a _bijuu_. Sasuke didn't know how that would affect Orochimaru's new army. He had only ever encountered Naruto and Gaara as examples of hosts. Gaara, with his capture by and subsequent rescue from Akatsuki, was now more an example of an extremely guarded leader than the mad child Sasuke had initially seen him as. And Naruto . . .

Even in the times Sasuke had seen Naruto lose the tightly-reined control he kept over the demon, Naruto never lost sight of his need to protect those around him. In fact, the majority of those times had probably come about as a direct result of Naruto's need to protect those around him.

A sudden shock wave made Sasuke pitch forward, channeling enough chakra to the soles of his feet so that his feet remained glued to the surface of the wall as the rest of his body threatened to tumble down the side. Once the tremors had ceased, Sasuke jerked his head up, his _doujutsu_ already activated as he scanned the horizon. A large plume of white smoke rose up from the road that led into Konoha. Sasuke pushed himself off the wall and practically bounced off the roof of the nearest house on his way to the ground beside the inner gate.

"What happened?" he demanded of the two jounin at the desk.

Kotetsu stared out the open road while Izumo seemed to be recovering himself enough to scuffle for a looking glass.

"I don't know," Kotetsu answered. "It was just as boring as ever."

"There's something coming," Izumo muttered as he adjusted the lens of the looking glass. "Make that a few somethings."

Sasuke followed the man's pointed gaze down the road, his vision sharpened by the Sharingan. He saw three forms, almost too monstrous to be called human, hurrying down the road toward Konoha. One of the figures had a pair of leathery, reptilian wings dragging behind him. Sasuke's mouth twisted into a sneer.

"Oto," he growled.

"Shit," muttered Kotetsu beside him.

Sasuke reached for the _kodachi_ on his back and cast the two jounin a last glance.

"Close the gates," he ordered.

Without waiting for a response, Sasuke strode through the open gates and onto the road just beyond Konoha. Naruto trusted him to protect the village; so be it. Sasuke withdrew his short sword from its sheath in one swift motion asa he heard the heavy wooden gates creak on their hinges behind him.

No sooner had the gates to Konoha closed than Sasuke identified three more disfigured beings appear from the white smoke. Sasuke could just see a large crater in the middle of the packed dirt road, where even more twisted Oto shinobi swarmed like flies around a carcass. This was far more serious than Sasuke had first thought. A part of his mind twinged at the foolish determination to protect Konoha at all costs, but he did not retreat.

"If I die from this, _dobe_, I swear I'll come back to haunt you," he whispered to a friend who was not beside him.

* * *

A/N: And now comes the epic battle. Hey, it's Naruto. You have to have an epic battle.

On a different note, I have found that I actually like writing both Orochimaru and Noboru as villians. They both share some of the same characteristics, being the mad-scientist-type of bad guy, but I wanted to use the Asahi scene to show some of the key differences between them. Orochimaru is willing to sacrifice more to get the results he wants, especially when he's not the one doing the sacrificing.

Anyway, being that much closer to the end, I have a goal of finishing by the end of the year. Of course, now that I've put that down in writing, the world will conspire against me. Feel free to leave me a review to encourage me in my endeavor.

Sincerely,

Fia

Darui – Unfortunately, Darui will probably not be putting in an appearance during this fic, but after I read the canon chapters on Kumo's fighting, I discovered that I really liked his character, so I gave him a shout-out.

_Densetsu no Sannin_ – For the life of me, I can't remember if I've used this term before. Well, it translates to the Legendary Three Ninja, and it's a reference to Sarutobi's team of Jiraiya, Tsunade, and Orochimaru, who became infamous mostly due to their actions in the Third Secret Shinobi War.

_Kamikaze_ – Divine Wind: Finally, finally, I give you explanation. This jutsu can only be used by Naruto because it utilizes _Kyuubi_'s chakra. Able to access _Kyuubi's_ chakra but in control enough to focus it, Naruto lets the chakra seep out of his chakra points but then uses his own power to form it into a hollow ball, like a Rasengan that encases him. He then pushes the chakra outward, like an explosion. The result is the same as Naruto's unfinished Rasenshuriken; acting more like poison with many cellular-level blades than the finished Rasenshuriken, which cuts like a giant blade.

_Kingin Kyoudai_ – Gold and Silver Brothers: The pair of brothers from Kumo come up through Orochimaru's _Edo Tensai_ in the manga final battle/war. They will not be making an appearance in my fic, but I wanted to reference them anyway as an example of what new twists Orochimaru is coming up with.

_Shiki Fuuin_ – Corpse Spirit Sealing Method: If you don't know that this is what Yondaime used to seal _Kyuubi_ into Naruto at the price of his own life, you have not been paying attention.


	16. In Which They Fight

Chapter 15: In Which They Fight

_If there must be danger, let it be in my day, that my children may have peace._

~Thomas Paine

**o0O0o**

"Naruto-_sensei?_" Mako paused long enough in his exercises to crane his neck and stare at Naruto.

Naruto was busy trying to crane his neck to look up into the horizon above Konoha's buildings. He was sure that something was wrong, but he couldn't precisely tell what.

"Naruto?" Sakura called.

She stood slightly behind Kaito as the boy went through the easy motions of forcing a leaf to hover over his bare forehead, right between his eyes. The exercise made him go a little cross-eyed, but Kaito never complained about it like Naruto remembered doing. Mako was doing the same exercise with quite a few more breaks. The oldest of Naruto's kids kept glancing over to where Naruto stared at the light blue sky. Mei was sitting cross-legged at the edge of the field alongside Sai. Normally Naruto would be absolutely stricken at the thought of one of his kids being entrusted to an artist who hadn't really had any healthy human contact for the first sixteen years of his life. But he couldn't begrudge Sai his place in the mismatching of teams that made up the different generations on the training field.

Naruto was just starting to wander if he should take the time to go into sage mode when he suddenly saw a large plume of white smoke rise up from the land just south of Konoha. The crash that accompanied the smoke sounded almost like the loud _crack_ that always followed Naruto's _Fuuton: Arashi_.

"That can't be good," muttered Naruto.

Keeping his eyes on the plume of smoke, Naruto froze and refused to move. Usually he closed his eyes when he was concentrating on _senjutsu_, otherwise he would be too distracted to remain perfectly still. But he wasn't about to risk missing what was happening outside Konoha.

"Naruto," Sakura began earnestly, "can you tell what's—"

"Oto!" Naruto nearly took a full step backwards as his senses suddenly sharpened and he recognized the twisted, foul-feeling chakra outside the village. "Orochimaru's attacking."

Kaito's eyes snapped over to Naruto, making the leaf drop silently to the ground. Naruto could feel the intensity of the boy's gaze on him.

_ "Sensei," _Kaito breathed.

"Gimme a frickin' minute here," Naruto snapped.

He didn't want to be mad at Kaito, but the kid was still recovering from his bout at Orochimaru's hideout. No way did Naruto want him anywhere near wherever Oto was. Naruto tilted his head on one side as he concentrated on the twisted chakra.

"Sasuke's at the gate." What the heck was Sasuke-_teme_ doing there? "I think most of the Oto-nin are there."

Of course, Sasuke was exactly where he could do the most damage against Orochimaru. Naruto took a step toward the edge of the training ground, fully intending to perform a quick _shunshin_ to get him at least to Konoha's gate.

"We need to report to Tsunade," Sakura announced.

Naruto rounded on her, despite knowing he must have looked weird with his new, frog-like eyes.

"Report what?" he demanded. He waved one hand vaguely in the director of the southern gate. "The enemy is out there, Sakura."

Going to the Hokage Office would just be a waste of time. He needed to get to Sasuke as soon as possible. Already, Naruto could tell his friend was grossly outnumbered, and many of the Oto-nin felt the same as the crazy, gray-skinned genin who had attacked a few days ago when Naruto had been guarding the wall with Konohamaru's team. Sakura stepped forward and laid a hand on Naruto's arm.

"Tsunade will direct us where she needs us." Sakura's grip on his arm was firm, and as much as her posture said otherwise, Naruto knew she wouldn't hesitate to flip him over her shoulder and into the ground if she thought he needed it.

He had been on his own for too long, Naruto realized. He had forgotten what it was like to be fighting under a single commander. Sure, he had fought alongside other people; he still considered the old guard of Hafuko his comrades, having fought with quite a few of them in Ame's civil war. But he had been a wild card then. He had been careful not to appear anywhere in public without his mask or a Henge, and he had never stuck around long enough for anyone to suspect him of supporting a certain side over the other. Mostly, he just tried to keep people from dying.

"Naruto," Sai called hesitantly.

"Yeah," Naruto sighed. "Okay."

He supposed it wasn't a good sign if Sai, who showed fear about as much as he did any other emotion, was acting a bit nervous around him. Konoha had been home once, it could be again. At least for a little while.

Naruto shot Sai a brief smile that didn't last long as he beckoned Mei forward with one hand. As the girl trotted up to him, Naruto turned to the two frozen boys who stood side by side staring at him. He kept one hand on Mei's shoulder and used the other to point at his two boys.

"You guys are going to the Academy," Naruto announced with all the authority of Raiden.

_ "Sensei_ . . ." Mako's voice was only slightly pleading. Most of it contained a nervous trepidation, which Naruto studiously ignored.

"They'll be evacuating the students there to a safe place. You'll help them." Naruto gently guided Mei to stand next to the boys. "No getting into fights with anyone above genin, Mako."

Naruto hoped the order was enough to remind Mako what had happened the last time he had run off to try to fight his _sensei_'s enemies. Naruto couldn't afford to worry about his kids when he would be trying to protect Konoha itself. But Mako just lowered his head and nodded obediently.

"Okay," he murmured.

Satisfied with the subdued response, Naruto brought his hands together and made two quick _kage bunshin_. He'd probably need a few more _Kage Tensei_ by the end of the fight, no matter what Tsunade-_baa-chan_ said about its uses. But for now, this would work for what he needed at the moment. One of his clones took Mei by the hand and started hurrying away from the green of the training ground to the street that would lead them to the Shinobi Academy. Mako and Kaito followed, disappearing hurriedly around a bend in the road.

"Kakashi's still at home," Naruto explained to Sai and Sakura, "and I think I'll need those seals."

Sakura nodded silently even as his other clone took off for the small house in the Uchiha District. He was lucky they were still in his Genkei Henge, although his clones did look slightly weird with light brown hair and red smudges around their eyes. With his luck, it was likely no one would recognize him as Genkei, not even the ones who knew Genkei was actually someone they could trust. Oh well, his _senjutsu_ wouldn't last long now that he had divided it up between three bodies. He'd have to make a recharge soon, or at least get one of his clones to stay still long enough to gather enough sage chakra to be useful.

Naruto looked back at Sakura where she stood next to Sai.

"We'll go to Tsunade-_baa-chan._" He stepped forward and laid his hand on Sakura's shoulder.

Sakura swallowed hard and squeezed her gloved hands into fists. For a moment, Naruto could see her as she had been at sixteen, newly reunited with her teammate and ready to pound her old _sensei_ into the ground with Naruto's help. The thought almost made Naruto smile, but there, tickling the edge of his awareness, he could still feel the presence of the Oto-nin closing in on the gate, where Sasuke's fiery chakra shone like a beacon.

**o0O0o**

Tsunade surged from her chair, nearly knocking it over in her haste.

"Oto is attacking?" she repeated.

Izumo only nodded hurriedly for a confirmation. Tsunade directed her attention out the window, a sudden foreboding filling her as she remembered the village four years ago under Pein's seige. The village was not decimated as it had been then, but there was a striking plume of white smoke rising up from the southern horizon near the borders of Konoha.

"How many?" Tsunade demanded coldly.

"There looked like at least six teams when I left," answered Izumo.

"Is the wall secure?"

"Uchiha Sasuke had us close the gates when he first spotted the attack."

Tsuande had to turn around and look at Izumo at that last statement.

"Uchiha is at the gates?" she asked.

Izumo looked sudden uncertain, but he recovered himself quickly and stood a tad straighter. Tsunade watched the young jounin nod silently and turned her frown back out to the village. Uchiha Sasuke wasn't her first choice to defend the gates of Konoha, but at least she could count on his hatred for Orochimaru to overpower any apathy he might still hold for his home village.

_ "Baa-chan_!"

Tsunade didn't even bother turning around to see who was calling her. It was rather obvious when only one person in the world had ever dared called her '_baa-chan.'_

"_Baa-chan," _Naruto called again, his voice much closer this time. "Oto—"

"I already know, Naruto."

Tsunade finally pulled her eyes away from the plume of smoke that hovered just south of Konoha. She wasn't surprised to see Naruto planted firmly in the center of her office, his face still under the disguise he had adopted. But Sakura and Sai were there as well, standing on either side of Naruto with matching determination.

"You're all here?" she confirmed unnecessarily. "Where's Kakashi?"

"He's back home." Naruto jerked his thumb over his shoulder in a random direction. "He said he wanted to look at the seal one more—"

A poof of smoke interrupted Naruto even as Tsunade got the general idea of what he was saying. The smoke quickly slipped away to reveal Hatake Kakashi in his jounin uniform with his _hitai-ate_ perched crookedly over one eye.

"Yo." Kakashi lifted one hand in his typical greeting.

"Kakashi-_sensei_!" Naruto cried immediately, as if he hadn't known that Kakashi would show up as soon as possible.

Kakashi held up a thick stack of square papers in his other hand and directed his attention mostly to his former student.

"I suppose these are the seals your clone was so adamant about having, Naruto?" he confirmed.

Naruto stepped forward to take a handful of the square seals from Kakashi's hand.

"Yeah."

"Are they ready for combat?" Tsunade asked the only important question that needed answering.

She had been hoping for a little more time before facing Orochimaru again. It made very little sense for him to attack so close to his latest encounter with Konoha, and Raiden. Then again, Orochimaru had already proved that he didn't necessary like to follow typical shinobi strategies.

"They'll have to be, won't they?" Naruto muttered harshly in response to Tsunade's question.

"I'm sure Naruto's seals will hold back the chakra from Orochimaru's _Ten no Juuin,_" Kakashi jumped in. "It's the length that's a bit unsure."

"They won't last?" Sai asked, a hint of anxiety in his tone.

Tsunade could see how that would make anyone nervous. It wouldn't do to slap a seal on Orochimaru's goons only to have the enemy pop back up at some inopportune time.

"I haven't gone over them thoroughly enough." Kakashi only shook his head. "And they weren't meant to be mass-produced."

"Sorry," Naruto murmured with a shrug.

His eyes remained fixed on the seals in his hands. Tsunade could even see the thoughts racing behind the subdued expression obvious in his countenance. Was he already planning improvements? Tsunade would never expect plans from Naruto on the scale of Shikamaru's, but he did have a tendency to think up things on the fly in a manner that could almost rival Shikamaru's ability to discern a problem and come up with five different solutions for it.

"It's not your fault, Naruto," Sakura said kindly. "We weren't expecting to get attacked like this."

No, they hadn't been expecting an attack. But part of Tsunade's mind thought they should have been prepared for Orochimaru to launch something dirty at Konoha. They were at war, even if most civilians forgot that at some times. They should have been prepared—

A sudden jolt from the building interrupted Tsunade's thoughts with all the force of the quake that made her stance suddenly unsteady. She shot out a hand to catch herself against the edge of the wooden desk, spreading her feet a bit wider for better balance. From the corner of her distracted eye, she saw everyone in the room go through similar motions. Kakashi had swayed from side to side, but his feet were still firmly attached to the wooden floor. Tsunade half-suspected that he had applied chakra to the soles of his feet as soon as the quake had hit. Sakura stumbled forward but caught herself on Sai's shoulder. Naruto was the only one who actually fell, but he still managed to land on one knee in a crouch that suggested he would be able to jump up at any moment, ready to fight.

"What the—" Naruto spat without bothering to complete the curse.

"What's happening?" demanded Tsunade.

As if anyone in the room could _really_ answer her, being tossed about as they were. The quake didn't last more than a full minute, and Tsunade spun around to march to the large windows that overlooked her village. Outside, she could still see the plume of smoke that billowed up from the south. But more immediately was the damage done by the quake; several buildings had lost their support beams, some had shutters on windows hanging by a single joint.

But besides all this, Tsunade's eyes caught what had to be the epicenter of the quake. In the center of the main street below the Hokage Tower, a crater cracked the ground at least six meters wide. It almost looked as if something had made an impact with the ground and created the pocket in the earth. But then the earth inside the crater began to crumble, caving in. From the dark maw of the earth, a hand reached up for the sky, then another and then more.

Tsunade sneered down at the sight of humans with grey skin and blank eyes crawling their way out of the hole in the ground like rats. The Oto-nin were burrowing up into the heart of the village from underground.

"That's not good," murmured a voice from beside Tsunade.

She turned and was almost surprised to see Naruto standing next to her. She hadn't felt his presence move, but then again she hadn't been paying very much attention to anything other than the sight outside her window. Naruto was staring down at the new crater with a hard look on his face, one that made Tsunade remember how harsh a reputation Raiden had. Naruto had had to create that persona on his own. He wasn't just the bratty genin she remembered him as.

However, Tsunade had no doubt that his feelings about his home hadn't changed.

"Naruto, take Kakashi and those seals and cut off that entrance," she ordered.

"_Ossu_," muttered Naruto.

Tsunade saw the young man throw Kakashi a wide grin as he jogged over to his former _sensei_ and tapped him on the shoulder once. The gesture made the two men look more like comrades than student and teacher. Both Kakashi and Naruto disappeared from Tsunade's office in a swirl of leaves, and she turned to her remaining soldiers.

"Sakura, I want you at the hospital." Tsunade pointed to her young apprentice. "You'll be in charge there, and there's a chance Oto might attack our weak points."

"Right." Sakura nodded once then turned to leave.

"And talk to Kumadori-_sensei_," Tsunade called after her. "He was looking into a way to combat the bio-chemicals in the _Ten no Juin_. He might have found something."

"Okay!" Sakura's only response assured Tsunade that she had been heard before Sakura went flying out the door in order to get to the hospital.

Standing alone with the Hokage in her office, Sai looked somewhat lost.

"Where do I go?" Sai pointed to his own chest hesitantly.

Tsunade wasn't quite sure if Sai was that confused or if he was just playing up his own ignorance of human behavior.

"Go find your stupid friends," Tsunade grumbled. She wasn't about to admit that she thought the nickname for Sai's generation of shinobi was strangely appropriate. "Tell as many as you can to defend their home."

Sai sketched her a quick bow and pulled a short scroll out of his vest. Unrolling it, he summoned an array of ink-black birds, one much larger than all the others. The small birds scattered across the village's skyline while Sai mounted the large summoned bird and flew directly out of the window of Tsunade's office. Tsunade nearly scoffed. Shinobi had some interesting methods of transportation.

"_Saru_," Tsunade called to the empty office.

Immediately, a thin, lithe figure clothed in black with a white and red mask covering its face appeared in a respectful kneel before Tsunade. The ANBU kept its right fist resting on the floor alongside the knee that was planted on the floorboards. The masked face was bowed out of respect, but Tsunade had no doubt the ANBU guard knew everything that had gone on in the last ten minutes.

"Take your team and support Naruto and Kakashi at the point of attack," she ordered.

"_Hai_."

The ANBU disappeared as soon as the word had left her mouth. Tsunade turned back to the window to observe. For now, she would support — it was her job to give direction to her shinobi, after all — but if Orochimaru had given orders to decimate her home, Tsunade would show him that she hadn't lost any of her strength.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke's _kodachi_ encountered some resistance when it hit the femur bone of the leg he had swung at. But Sasuke knew how to flick his wrist and apply just enough pressure to the handle of his blade for it to continue with the swing with minimal pause. It was just enough for the Oto-nin to realize what was happening to him but not enough to allow him any time to do anything about it. With his legs literally cut out from under him, the pale Oto-nin collapsed to the ground.

Sasuke turned to the next opponent, not even bothering to flick the blood from his blade. The Oto-nin were doing a good job at swarming the gates of Konoha, but so far not one had gotten through. Sasuke wasn't alone in his defense, either. The guard, Kotetsu was at his right, dealing with his own slew of enemies. Two other chuunin were at Sasuke's left; one looked like that Hyuuga Tokio that had been an almost permanent guard for Konoha's wall since Oto had first attacked with a wave of genin that had done more damage to people's nerves than to the wall.

Hearing a sharp cry from his side, Sasuke turned his head just enough to catch a glimpse of Kotetsu in his peripheral vision. The Sharingan spun wildly as Sasuke saw, in perfect detail, a gray-skinned Oto-nin with monkey-like arms open his mouth so wide it almost appeared as if the young man — if it had ever been a man — had dislocated his jaw. Surging forward, the Oto-nin sank his teeth into Kotetsu's flank. For a moment, Sasuke forgot to pay attention to his surroundings. He was too horrified by the sight of the Oto-nin ripping away from Kotetsu with his teeth still clenched, tearing away a large chunk of Kotetsu's side and leaving a curved hollow in the man's side.

Only his active Sharingan warned Sasuke of the impending attack from his front. He shifted his weight and raised the _kodachi_ in his hand just in time to pierce the shinobi in the joint where his left arm met his shoulder. The face that stared at Sasuke only sneered, showing no signs of pain or distress. Sasuke pulled his _kodachi_ to the right sharply, effectively slicing his enemy's arm from his shoulder.

The man in front of him didn't even blink.

Sasuke flipped his blade so that the sharpened edge faced his opponent and swung the _kodachi_ back toward the man, angling down to the left so that he would cut the man's torso cleanly in half. Suddenly, the man facing him jerked backwards like a puppet whose strings had been pulled. The blade barely grazed the first layer of the man's skin and left him with a shallow cut that extended from his left shoulder to just below his rib cage on his right side.

Then, without any warning from the man Sasuke had been fighting, a metal senbon was buried in the man's neck. Sasuke could see the man slump in his position, the blood from what remained of his left arm staining the entire left side of his clothes. As the man collapsed, unconscious, to the ground, Sasuke could see who stood behind his enemy, in a perfect position to dispatch the shinobi unseen.

Morishima Noboru stared blankly back at Sasuke.

Sasuke stared, but Noboru made no move to attack the Konoha jounin. His face was hard, completely unlike the first time Sasuke had been introduced to the man just outside the rainy village of Hafuko. Then the man had evoked memories of Kabuto and of Orochimaru himself, with his smiles and friendly coaxing at Raiden.

"I thought Oto was supposed to be attacking," Sasuke taunted hesitantly.

Noboru finally turned his face toward Sasuke, still maintaining a blank expression.

"You would've killed him." Even his voice sounded dead.

Sasuke sneered at the older man and felt the hand that grasped his _kodachi_ heat with the passage of _Raiton_ chakra into his blade. It was true that Noboru's actions had saved the diseased Oto-nin from Sasuke's blade, but Sasuke hardly thought that was intentional. From Noboru's words, he might have been trying to save the warped shinobi by rendering him unconscious. Even so, the very idea sounded ludicrous to Sasuke.

"Don't pretend you care anything for comrades," he commanded with more heat than he typically used in a conversation with an enemy. "Orochimaru would send forty shinobi to their death just to test one of his proudest achievements."

He spoke from experience, too. Orochimaru had once locked Sasuke in a room that looked more like an arena along with forty of his shinobi, all at least chuunin level and some who could have been jounin. Sasuke had been expected to kill them all, just in order to test out his level of growth. Sasuke had, indeed, fought them all, but he hadn't killed any of them. At the time, he had used the excuse that he only wanted to kill the one he had been after: his brother. Orochimaru hadn't questioned it.

At least out loud.

"This is not achievement," Noboru spat.

He cast a wide glance around the area where he and Sasuke stood. It was deliberate enough that Sasuke suspected Noboru was trying to draw Sasuke's attention somewhere else, but Sasuke kept his red and black eyes fixed on the man before him.

"The _Ten no Juuin_ was not prepared for distribution of this magnitude," Noboru said, a little more calmly now.

Sasuke dared to widen his gaze to take in the shinobi still swarming the small team at the gate. Almost all of them had a palish, gray color to their skin, indicating they had all activated Orochimaru's curse seal to Level Two at least. Sasuke had witnessed a mass outbreak of Orochimaru's old experiments back when he had been on his own; it sounded better for him like that than to think he was intending on remaining a traitor forever. But even that was unlike this. The malformed beings that attacked Konoha's walls relentlessly were more like zombies than intelligent soldiers.

"You were under it for a time, Uchiha-kun." Noboru's eyes flickered back to Sasuke, finally showing some life again. "You cannot tell me you were as stupid as these ones are, even with your youth."

Sasuke glared at Orochimaru's apprentice, his stare all the more pointed because of his active _doujutsu_.

"Don't presume to know anything about me," he snapped coldly.

He did _not _want to be reminded of that time, of losing himself to a power so hot and potent that it consumed him. Naruto had been right. It was a lot like being high, drunk on one's own power. Except that power had never been Sasuke's. He had come so close to losing himself in his fight against Itachi years ago, even after he had been sure he was free from Orochimaru's influence.

Noboru seemed surprised by Sasuke's vehement demand. But the surprise quickly disappeared from his face to be replaced by the kind of professional curiosity Sasuke recognized from the way the man looked at Raiden.

"Very well," Noboru murmured. "But I know about Orochimaru."

Sasuke's eyes caught the three silver senbon that appeared threaded in between the fingers of Noboru's right hand. Warily, Sasuke raised his _kodachi_ poised to intercept any projectiles. He had no wish to repeat what had happened in Hafuko. Noboru only eyed Sasuke and then gave the young man an indulgent smile.

"Strange that he's not so desperate for Uchiha eyes anymore," stated the twisted medic. "Perhaps he doesn't need them."

Sasuke definitely did not like the greedy look that came into Noboru's eyes at the mention of the Uchiha _kakkei genkei_. He had already had his eyes poked, prodded, and possibly plunked straight out of his skull too many times for comfort. He would not allow this man access to his own eyes.

"I thought you were interested in Raiden," Sasuke taunted.

He regretted it as soon as the words left his mouth. The last thing he wanted to do was to call attention to Naruto, especially if the attention came from anywhere near Orochimaru. Noboru only smiled wider.

"Would you give him up to save your eyes, Sasuke-kun?"

In a flash, Sasuke held up his blade and let his _Chidori Ensou_ pierce the man in front of him. Apparently, Noboru had quicker reflexes than he let on. He dodged the point of the blade, and the lightning spear grazed Noboru's left arm instead. Sasuke saw him flinch from the force of the electrocution, but otherwise Noboru showed no sign that he was injured. Noboru raised his right hand and made to stab the very chakra that had attacked him with the metal senbon.

Cutting off his _Chidori Ensou_ abruptly, Sasuke called his _Raiton _chakra back to him before Noboru could touch it. If what Naruto said was right and Noboru was skilled in poisons and hallucinogens, Sasuke wasn't going to take the risk in assuming Noboru couldn't transfer a chemical through Sasuke's own chakra.

Noboru snatched the senbon back when Sasuke's retreating chakra put him in more danger of losing his fingers than was worth it. He glanced back at Sasuke, his face once again devoid of amusement.

"I'll kill you before you can touch my eyes," Sasuke announced.

**o0O0o**

"_Gatsuuga!_"

Kiba felt bones crunch beneath his claw-like hands and only looked back once he had completed the corkscrew movement that was nearly his clan's own signature. Behind him, he could see at least a dozen bodies of young men and a handful of women, either unconscious or bludgeoned to death. Kiba grimaced at the sight. It wasn't fair that the skewed limbs and freaky appearances of those Oto-nin vanished as soon as they were unconscious. As long as they looked like monsters, Kiba had no problem with tearing into their asses for attacking his home. Unconscious, they looked more like people — teenagers, most of them — and Kiba wondered how many had been recruited by force like that Kaito kid.

Kiba suddenly got a whiff of a strange mix of sweat, dirt, and something that stunk like pickled animals. He turned swiftly with his fist upraised, but he only saw a man, about Kurenai-_sensei_'s age, frozen in place. The man faced Kiba with twin swords, both poised in a full backswing. He was straining as if someone had grabbed his wrists and held him in place. Kiba almost thought a Nara had come to his rescue before he saw that the restraints around the man's wrists weren't shadows. They were insects; hundreds of them.

"You should be more aware of your surroundings in battle, Kiba," Shino drawled in his typically stoic manner. "Why? I cannot jump in to rescue you all times."

"Shut up!" Kiba growled at the Aburame, only half-seriously angry. "Just let your bugs eat this guy."

As Kiba hoped, the man looked suddenly queasy at the thought of being food for a swarm of _keikechi_.

"My allies are not bugs." Shino's forehead didn't so much as twitch, but Kiba was still sure he was frowning behind those glasses. "They are a rare insect breed—"

"Yeah, yeah." Kiba waved away the explanation he had already heard a million times. "Get it over with."

But he could already see the man's knees shaking and knew that all his posturing had accomplished the distraction Shino needed. The _insects_ were already doing their work of draining the man's chakra.

"You will not prevail," the man choked out weakly. "Orochimaru-_sama_ will—"

Kiba lost his patience by the fifth word and punched the man directly in the nose. Blood spurted from the man's broken cartilage as he sank to the ground. Shino's insects retreated back to the young man's still form and allowed the swords to clatter to the ground.

"That was unnecessary," Shino noted as he stepped over the swords to stand in front of Kiba.

Kiba only shrugged.

"He was bugging me with that Orochimaru-_sama_ crap."

A harsh roar echoed down the street in the direction Kiba had initially aimed his _Gatsuuga_.

"The message said the attack was located centrally within Konoha," Shino noted.

"Yeah, from Sai? I got that one, too."

Kiba didn't particularly know why Sai had been the one to send the message, but he wasn't about to doubt its validity. How could he when he had just taken out more than his fair share of creepy-crawly Oto guys?

"C'mon." Kiba tapped Shino's shoulder once and ran ahead.

Akamaru was still within the Inuzuka compound, recovering, although Kiba knew that his sister was out here somewhere with her triplets. Shino suddenly sprang up onto a civilian roof, leaving Kiba trailing in the road below.

"Hey!" Kiba cried indignantly, just because he could.

He jumped easily from his position on the ground, off the side of a building, and onto the roof next to Shino. Once there, he stopped and stared in the same direction as his friend.

A large part of the northeastern wall surrounding Konoha was missing. Kiba had skipped out on quite a few Academy classes in his day, but he could still remember the path the emergency drills took from the Shinobi Academy to the safe bunker in the caves within Hokage Mountain.

"It seems the opposing forces are not regulating their attacks to the main gate and the main road," Shino noted.

Shino was far too calm for the occasion.

"The kids'll be there," Kiba snarled.

Without waiting for Shino, Kiba vaulted off the rooftop and landed directly on the building across the street, aiming north. Fighting monsters who wanted to decimate Konoha's shinobi forces was one thing, but Kiba wasn't going to forgive anyone who hurt kids like his _sensei_'s daughter.

**o0O0o**

Mako lined up with the other students and followed the hesitant line down the street toward the large mountain that formed the northern border of the village. He had learned, through one particularly chatty and nervous boy, that the Shinobi Academy ran drills like this all the time. Or at least once every month. They had to make it to the safe point — somewhere inside the mountain, the kid wasn't very specific about that — without running into any bad guys.

It sounded simple enough, but everyone had become sudden silent when the ground shook hard enough to knock Mako and the boy he was with to his feet.

"C'mon, get up." Iruka-_sensei_ paused to pull Mako to his feet then quickly moved on to help the rest of the students get back in line.

Mako glanced over his shoulder. Naruto-_sensei's_ clone was still holding Mei's hand, and Kaito stood on his feet unsteadily, somewhere just beyond _sensei_'s right side.

"That was wicked!" whispered the boy beside Mako in an awed tone.

Mako shot the boy a glare.

"Shut up, _baka_," he muttered.

"Hey!" cried the talkative boy. "My name is Suzuki Jirou, and I'm not stupid."

"If you're not stupid then shut up!" growled Mako.

The kid was acting too excited about the attack. Mako, on the other hand, was just getting nervous. He had seen only some of what those giant Oto-nin could do, and he _knew_ he wasn't useful to Naruto-_sensei_ as he was. The fact that _sensei_'s clone hadn't spoken a word since leaving the Academy with the rest of the students only made Mako's stomach from twisting itself into knots.

"You all right, _mei mei_?" Mako called over his shoulder.

"Uh-huh." Mei nodded tremulously but kept walking.

_Sensei_ was craning his neck to look out over what he could see of the village now. Mako caught Kaito's eye and nodded at his friend.

"That your brother?" Suzuki Jirou asked suddenly.

Mako turned to see Jirou following his gaze to Kaito. Mako looked back at Kaito. He seemed well enough, but he was still a little pale, like he had just thrown up or something.

"Yeah," Mako murmured.

_Sensei_ had always said that family was more than who you were related to by blood. Mako liked that idea because he had never had any blood family. He had lived in an orphanage in his first memories. No one had been able to tell him anything about his father, and his mother had died within a year of his birth. Mako had run away from the orphanage as soon as he could, hitching a ride on an unsuspecting traveler who was carting jars of something or other out of Konoha. Now that he looked back, they had probably been sake or something similar. Mako had survived on his own for a long time.

_Sensei_ had become Mako's first family when he did things for Mako that no _sensei_ should need to do for his student. Mako knew how things worked. Teachers were supposed to pass on knowledge, not tuck their students into bed or help them with their kanji or laugh out loud at jokes that weren't that funny in the first place. Naruto-_sensei_ had done all that. And more. And then he had given Mako a little sister in Mei, someone to take care of the way _sensei_ took care of Mako.

"He doesn't look a thing like you," noted Jirou.

Mako scowled and turned around to punch Jirou in the nose for that comment. He didn't even know why it bothered him so much when it made perfect sense for he and Kaito to look different. Heck, they hadn't even been born in the same country. But Mako could still remember when Naruto-_sensei_ had brought Kaito home. The boy then had been broken and scared like Mako had seen some of the younger kids on the street, the ones who appeared some days with bruises and broken lips. And _sensei_ had been hurt, so he couldn't take care of them like usual. So, instead, Mako and Mei had taken care of _sensei_. Mako even managed to get Kaito to start eating when _sensei_ cooked what little he could, because he could tell that _sensei_ was going to keep this kid, which meant he was part of their little mismatched group of students and a _sensei_ who didn't really have a name.

Mako was pretty sure that wasn't something most students did for their _sensei_, but he knew it was something families did for each other.

"Iruka-_sensei_!"

Mako's anger suddenly flooded away as he snapped his head around to look at _sensei_ calling up to the front of the line, where the Academy teacher, Iruka-_sensei_ stood.

"We may have to find a different route," _sensei_ called. "Someone's blocking the way ahead."

Iruka-_sensei_ frowned and glanced down the road ahead of him.

"Can you tell what—"

"Hey, look! Bite-sized Leaves!"

Suddenly, a wave of cold swept through Mako's veins as if someone had turned down the temperature of his blood. He had felt this before, when _sensei_ was serious about hurting someone. Naruto-_sensei_ had said it was killing intent and used to scare and intimidate people who weren't used to it. Mako swallowed back the feeling like he had to throw up and balled his hands into fists. He _wasn't_ used to this, that was sure, but that didn't mean that he would just give in.

Mako looked up for the source of the voice that had interrupted Iruka-_sensei._ He immediately saw a tall, thin man standing on top of a building up ahead, right where the road split into two different directions. The right branch wound its way along the tall wall around the village. The wall, though, seemed to be broken. The road going to the left was steeper, leading up the mountain. Mako guessed that was the way they were supposed to be going.

"Looks tasty."

The tall man standing just above where the road split shot out a long, pointed tongue and licked his lips. His eyes, from what Mako could see, were a strange golden color, and it looked like he didn't have any pupils. He wore a pale kimono with long sleeves that draped down to graze the roof he stood on. The collar of the kimono was spread wide and almost hanging off the man's bare shoulders. Mako took a crazy moment to hope with some fevered desperation that the man was wearing something more substantial than a _fundoshi_ under his kimono.

A red blur shot by Mako as _sensei_ rushed to the front of the line of students, standing between the kids and the man who wanted to eat them.

"Iruka-_sensei_, get your students outa here. Now."

Mako almost jumped in surprise at _sensei_'s voice. He sounded like he usually did when he was wearing his mask as Raiden. Only now he was in a regular Henge as a regular guy. It was the same one he had been using since they had left Hafuko and _sensei_ went by Genkei instead of his name.

"_Sensei_," Kaito called up hesitantly.

Mako spun back and rushed to Kaito's side, placing himself between Kaito and Mei.

"We have to let _sensei_ fight," he whispered into Kaito's ear. "He's just a _bunshin_, remember?"

Mako hadn't seen the _sensei_-clone eat the little white pill like the clones had to if it was going to be _Kage Tensei_. That didn't mean that _sensei_ hadn't been sneaky about it, but there was still the chance that the clone wouldn't last long against the tall man.

Iruka-_sensei_ stood shoulder to shoulder with _sensei_ and waved one hand behind his back.

"Keep going, kids," he ordered quietly. "Jirou-_kun_, you know where to go."

The talkative kid had fallen strangely silent. But he nodded and hurried to the front of the line, just behind Iruka-_sensei_. Then, with a loud and sudden cry, Iruka-_sensei_ launched himself up to the top of the building. He planted a fist right into the Oto shinobi's grinning face.

"Nobody threatens my students!" he yelled at the enemy.

Even Naruto-_sensei_ looked impressed.

But then _sensei_ turned around and addressed the kids.

"Go now!" he ordered. "Hurry!"

Jirou sped down the road that led up the face of the mountain, with the younger students following quickly behind. _Sensei_'s eyes flit up to study his own three students grouped together, and Mako knew he was checking up on them. Then, _sensei_ seemed to see something just beyond the line of students.

"Kiba!" _Sensei_ raised one hand and waved vigorously.

Mako turned his head to look over his shoulder and saw two more adults hurrying across the rooftops toward them. One was Kiba-_san_, who had been on the team to Hafuko. Mako still remembered the man's giant dog, the one that had gotten hurt in _orochi-teme_'s base. The man beside him was one Mako didn't recognize, although it was kinda hard to tell with the large raincoat and droopy hood that covered the man's entire torso as well as his head. The narrow sunglasses also hid his eyes from view.

"Shin—"

_Sensei_ was almost done yelling when he jerked forward suddenly before catching himself with one foot. Then, the clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke. Mako's eyes went wide as he had a clear view to the battle on top of the building. The tall, thin man was holding Iruka-_sensei_ by the throat. It looked like Iruka-_sensei_ was bleeding, but Mako couldn't tell where the man was wounded. The weird thing, though, was one of the Oto-man's sleeves was extended as if it was an actual arm. The cloth reached down toward the kids, all the way to where _sensei_'s clone had been standing. Little pale green wisps arose from the cloth as Mako tracked it back up to the man who held Iruka-_sensei_.

"I broke him?" The man sounded surprised. But then he dropped his shocked look in favor of a bored one. "Oh well, more kiddies for me."

"Kid, move!" shouted a voice behind Mako.

Unthinking, Mako ducked, pulling Kaito and Mei down with him. A breeze overhead ruffled his hair and he looked up to see the two shinobi _sensei_ had been waving to land in the road just in front of Mako.

Trusting _sensei_'s friends to deal with the creepy guy in the kimono, Mako raised his head and looked back at the road. Besides Kaito and Mei, there were about a dozen other Academy students that had been left behind when the man made his attack. There was no way they could continue up the road now without getting in the way of the battle.

"C'mon," Mako announced to the general gathering of young, frightened faces. "We have to find another way around."

Resolutely, Mako led the way back down the road they had come by. Kaito's hand slipped from his, and Mako spun around, ready to grab his friend back from danger or weakness. But Kaito looked just as determined as he ever had. He was dropping back to be the rear guard, Mako realized. Catching his eye, Mako nodded once at Kaito to prove that he understood and to remind Kaito that he was supposed to yell if he needed any help and to tell him that he better not faint or anything because he was too darn stubborn.

At least, that's what Mako wanted to say. He squeezed Mei's hand a little tighter and hoped that Kaito had understood everything that went unsaid.

**o0O0o**

Naruto blinked and tried to process his new memories while simultaneously landing a successful punch in his opponent's face. The moment his fist connected with the Oto-nin's nose, Naruto put enough force behind his jab to send his enemy flying into a dango stand on the other side of the street. He had forgotten how powerful the frog katas could be while he was in sage mode; he usually stuck to searching out the ones he wanted or using ninjutsu he otherwise wouldn't be able to.

Still, he didn't deny the brief satisfaction he got when the deformed Oto-genin's body punched a hole straight through the dango stand and sailed on for at least another block.

"Something wrong?"

Naruto turned his head even though he had already sensed Kakashi fighting beside him.

"The clone I sent with my kids just disappeared," Naruto grumbled dimly. "They got separated from the rest of the Academy students by some Oto guy. Someone stronger than these."

Naruto thought he was stronger, anyway. At least the guy who was fighting Iruka-_sensei_ was able to speak. The creatures who kept crawling out of the hole in the ground didn't even look like humans until they were knocked unconscious.

"Are they all right?" Kakashi asked as he covered his right hand in lightning and stabbed another cursed shinobi in the chest.

"I think so. I saw Kiba and Shino coming their way."

Naruto was momentarily distracted by a gorilla-like ninja charging him from the right. He briefly wondered if this ninja was related at all to the golem-like ninja Naruto had seen in Orochimaru's base near the Valley of the End. But the thought left his mind quickly as he swung a left haymaker. It was a lot sloppier than Fukasaku-_ji-san_ would've accepted had he been there, but it didn't matter. The giant ninja avoided Naruto's swing by dodging to the left, but the shockwaves from Naruto's punch caught up with him and blew his backwards, colliding with at least two more ninja.

"There's too many," Naruto muttered in Kakashi's direction.

For as many jutsu as Kakashi knew, Naruto was aware that his _sensei_ was somewhat limited by the battlefield. For that matter, so was Naruto. Each punch he swung did as much damage to the village property as it did to the enemy. He had already ruled out any of his larger _Rasengan_ techniques, including _Rasenshuriken_. And _Fuuton: Arashi _wouldn't be very useful unless he literally wanted to blow the enemy away. Naruto still had his ruggedly-made seals tucked away inside his shuriken pouch but those were meant to cut off _bijuu_ chakra from humans. They might work just as well against Orochimaru's curse seal, but Naruto didn't really want to waste them, especially if another wave was coming eventually. They needed greater numbers.

This was gonna look so weird.

Naruto brought his hands together to form a cross and drew a deep breath.

"_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_!"

As if summoned by his call, a hundred identical figures burst into existence. Naruto was kind of glad they were all still under a Henge to look like a regular guy. Then again, the red circles around their abnormal eyes probably didn't help his hopes.

Turning around to survey his work, Naruto saw another deformed shinobi running toward Kakashi's back. Before the cursed fighter could get near the turned back, Naruto reached out and grabbed the shinobi by the scruff of his collar and yanked backwards. Kakashi glanced over his shoulder to Naruto.

"Thanks." His mask crinkled in his half-covered smile.

Kakashi had his _hitai-ate_ pushed up on his forehead and kept his right eye closed while the Sharingan in his left eye stayed spinning wildly. The switch from his norm made him look slightly off-kilter to Naruto. With an army of clones engaging the enemy, Naruto straightened for a brief breather.

"You probably shouldn't have made that many _kage bunshin_," Kakashi noted absently.

Naruto frowned at his teacher. It wasn't like he was in any danger from chakra exhaustion, not with the kind of chakra _he_ had.

"Ah, c'mon, Kakashi-_sensei_," he drawled. "You know I could make at least five hundred more than that."

"Yes, but you're probably the only one who could," said Kakashi. "And most of Konoha's ninja know Uzumaki Naruto's favorite jutsu."

Okay, he had a point there. Although Naruto would probably take issue with the term 'favorite.' He was still debating whether he used _kage bunshin_ more often than _Rasengan_.

"Bah," Naruto grumbled. "Secrets are lies, bad manners besides."

The sing-song phrase made Naruto think of his kids again. Already in sage mode, it was an easy thing to close his eyes and feel for the most familiar presences in Konoha.

"I think Mako's leading the Academy kids a new way to the mountain," he noted when he tracked the small chakra signature down a back alley he knew would lead to the Hokage Tower.

"You do have good kids, Naruto."

Naruto couldn't help the wide grin that stretched across his face until he felt his cheeks tighten with the force of it.

"Told ya," he said.

Naruto noticed another familiar presence, one far shakier than any of his kid's.

"Sasuke may be in trouble," Naruto muttered with his eyes cast to the side.

"Where is he?" asked Kakashi.

"Still by the gate." Naruto raised one hand to indicate a southern direction. "But I can feel Noboru there, too."

"Sasuke is fully capable—"

"It's not like I doubt him, Kakashi-_sensei_," Naruto interrupted. "It's just that his chakra feels kinda off."

Whatever explanation Kakashi was going to demand got cut off when Kakashi glanced up to the skyline overhead. Naruto followed his gaze up to the top of the buildings on either side of the street. He had felt the four chakra signatures pause, but he hadn't realized they were ANBU. A monkey mask, a cow mask, one bird, and one that looked vaguely like a wolf. Naruto studied them for a moment before realizing that one of the ANBU felt very familiar.

He grinned and waved up at his friend. It was good to have back-up.

**o0O0o**

Saru-_taichou_ had assembled her team in record time; although it helped that most of the ANBU were already on duty and were alert as soon as the quake had hit the village. Now, there were four ANBU stationed just above the gaping hole in the center of the main road of Konoha. The Oto-nin below them were malformed and abnormally strong, and almost all of them were fighting with a figure in a red and black coat with a short mop of light brown hair.

Neji nearly rolled his eyes beneath his bird-like mask. Trust Naruto to plant himself directly in the center of the action.

"We need to seal the ground and stop the inflow of enemy troops," commanded Saru-_taichou_. "Tell our shinobi to get clear of the area."

Neji's eyes scanned the crowd as he wished Naruto would make his _bunshin _a little more distinguishable. He could only see the same glowing skeletal structure in each of the figures. Then, his eyes caught sight of one particular red-cloaked man looked back up at him. Kakashi-_san_ stood next to Naruto as Naruto waved up at Neji. Making a decisive gesture, Neji beckoned the two to stand up with him.

Naruto vaulted easily up to the roof, followed by Kakashi.

"What's up, Neji?"

Neji blinked at Naruto and wondered how the hell the other man had discovered which ANBU mask he wore. He had only appeared before Naruto as ANBU once, back when Naruto was still wearing his mask as Raiden. Neji wondered if it had something to do with the red smudges around Naruto's eyes. He had seen them only briefly inside Orochimaru's base, but he still wasn't sure what they meant.

"Nothing," Neji finally answered. "We just needed you out of the way."

"Hey!" Naruto's cry was the pure indignation that Neji remembered.

"Tell the others to move so we can wipe out the enemy," Saru-_taichou_ interrupted.

Naruto transferred his attention easily to the ANBU captain and merely shrugged.

"Wipe away," he said casually. "No one's down there but clones."

Neji was curious, but there was no way he could say the same for sure about his captain. She had been in ANBU longer than he and had mastered the art of reigning in body movements that would give away emotions.

"Ushi!"

A man with a purple triangle between the eyes of his white mask flipped down to the ground, running through hand signs as he flew through the air. Once Ushi landed, he brought the palms of his hand hard to the ground.

"_Doryuu Taiga_," he called.

The ground the fighting force stood on quivered and trembled with much finer tremors than Oto had set off. Then, the Oto shinobi began to sink into the soft mud that appeared in place of the ground. The mud thinned and began to flow toward the hole in the ground that had initially allowed the Oto-nin access.

"Tori, see where it leads," ordered Saru-_taichou_.

Neji focused on the quickly-filling hole in the ground and used his Byagakun to peer through the earth to the tunnel beyond it. His eyes were advanced enough not to need the hand sign that activated his bloodline, so he was in no danger of an enemy recognizing him despite his mask. His eyes watched the Oto-nin fleeing the river of mud that streamed into the tunnel and followed the retreat beneath the ground until he saw the exit.

"The enemy is entering through the mouth of the tunnel, located twenty meters south of the main gate," Neji announced.

"That's where Sasuke is," Naruto shouted eagerly.

Apparently, despite the strength Neji knew that Naruto had grown into, had seen in Orochimaru's Mogami base, he remained as exuberant as Neji's former teammate.

"What do you need, _taichou_?" Kakashi asked professionally.

Neji saw the way Saru-_taichou_ turned her shoulders toward Kakashi ever so slightly. In a world of masks and cloaks and secret identities, it was the closest Neji had ever seen one of his comrades bow to someone who was not the Hokage. Hatake Kakashi was still as much of a legend within ANBU as Uchiha Itachi was.

"My team will engage the enemy at the point of entry, cutting them off," answered Saru-_taichou._ "But we need to ensure they won't break through here again."

"I'll stay and guard this entrance," Kakashi assured the ANBU captain.

"And I'm coming with you," Naruto announced.

Neji glared at Naruto, neglecting the fact that his mask would completely negate the effect of his glare. Hopefully, Naruto had enough smarts in him to deduce Neji's attitude from his mere posture. If he did, Naruto didn't show his understanding.

Kakashi only studied Naruto with his Sharingan eye spinning.

"Are you sure?" he questioned.

"I know what most of Noboru's poisons do." Naruto frowned back at his teacher. "Sasuke doesn't."

Neji frowned at the mention of the young man who had devoted himself to Orochimaru's ideal. Having met him in the subterranean base, Neji couldn't say that he thought well of Orochimaru's apprentice.

"All right." Kakashi nodded.

Naruto nearly beamed with the force of his relieved smile. He turned to Saru-_taichou_ and never lost his eye-crinkling grin.

"C'mon, ANBU-_san,_" he invited with more enthusiasm than professionalism. Naruto then slid his eyes over to Neji on his other side and took on a distinctly plotting look. "We can do the Dynamic Entry."

"No!"

Neji only wondered later if Naruto had laughed so hard because his joke had been successful or because he had recognized the sheer panic in Neji's voice.

**o0O0o**

"I can see why Orochimaru had such a hard time procuring your eyes, Sasuke-_kun_."

Sasuke paused to regulate his breathing, just enough so that he didn't seem out of breath, and glared at Noboru. Around Sasuke's feet in a near-perfect half-circle were the remnants of Noboru's metal senbon. While Sasuke could easily track the needles through the air, he was getting thoroughly sick of dodging them. It only served to remind him of being inside a dome of icy mirrors, trying to be faster than a boy who only served as a tool. It was the most annoying thing he had ever encountered.

Then again, Naruto had liked Haku. The idiot even made a mask that reminded him of that mission.

Sasuke straightened his spine and forced all thoughts of ice domes and necessary sacrifices out of his head. Noboru didn't seem to notice Sasuke's shift in demeanor as the Oto _tenbatsu jounin_ toyed with one remaining senbon in his right hand.

"You can see very well," Noboru noted.

With the mission to Wave still hanging on the edges of his consciousness, Sasuke smirked.

"Want me to see your future?" he asked, ready to predict a gruesome death for the man.

"That is not necessary, Sasuke-_kun_." Noboru sniffed derisively. "I'm a man of science, not superstition."

"You'd dare to call this science?" Sasuke seethed between his grit teeth and cast his eyes to either side of him.

Each member of the team guarding the gate was trying to deal with more than one opponent. Sasuke saw Kotetsu fending off three different dark-skinned Oto attackers, one at least twice Kotetsu's size.

"It is necessary to defeat Konoha," Noboru said blankly.

Sasuke frowned. Noboru sounded like Orochimaru's researcher, considering how much he knew about the _Ten no Juin_, as well as his experience in bio-chemistry. All in all, it hardly sounded like Noboru was the type to plot world domination. At least not this way. Someone so skilled in poisons would never need such a full frontal attack. This was solely Orochimaru's plan, and Noboru was following orders. Sasuke allowed himself a smug smile.

"Orochimaru won't defeat Konoha," he said confidently. "And you know it. But you are the snake's bitch, so you can't go against your master, can you?"

Sasuke reached behind his back and slid his sword back into its sheath. With his hands now free, he sped through a series of hand signs and raised his fingers to his mouth.

"_Gouryuuka no Jutsu_," he whispered needlessly.

Three fiery dragons sprouted from Sasuke's mouth, leaving behind the taste of ash and a desperate need for a mint. But Sasuke never changed his expression as he watched the dragons speed toward Noboru. Noboru dropped his senbon and raised something similarly silver and thin to his mouth. Sasuke saw him inhale deeply and then blow.

The dragons stopped and curled into themselves as if they had hit a visible barrier. It was a moment before the sound reached Sasuke's ears; it was high-pitched and shrill, like a whistle on a tea kettle. Instinctively, Sasuke clasped his free hands over his ears, realizing that the instrument Noboru had pulled out of his pocket was a simple whistle. After all his specialities, Noboru was really a ninja of Sound underneath it all.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes and focused on a way to get rid of that stupid whistle. He left his sword strapped to his back but took his hands away from his ears. Aware he had only seconds before his eardrums burst, Sasuke quickly summoned a handful of Lightning chakra to his right hand and used his eyes to aim.

"_Chidori Senbon_."

A shower of bright needles, seemingly made of light, flew through the air toward Noboru. Noboru was forced to take the small whistle away from his mouth and dodge. Sasuke reached back for his sword and pointed it where he knew Noboru would be by the time Sasuke put his plan into motion.

"_Chidori Ensou_," murmured Sasuke, confident in his delivery.

A spear of lightning shot from Sasuke's sword and pinned his target against a large tree to the side of the empty road that led from the gate. Sasuke smirked at his own success.

"That was annoying," he stated.

Noboru glanced from Sasuke to the tree where his whistle was pinned, melted and malformed by the heat of the Lightning. He glanced back again, holding his right forearm where Sasuke could see a perfect hole of a wound, already cauterized. His own senbon must have hit better than Noboru's.

Suddenly, Noboru smiled confidently.

"It served its purpose."

The figure of Noboru suddenly shimmered in Sasuke's eyes, as if he were seeing the Oto-nin through the rising heat of the day. At the same time, Sasuke felt light-headed, as if he had stood up too fast and all the blood was rushing away from his head. Sasuke glanced down at his own body, quickly inspecting it for any wounds he hadn't felt. But then, Sasuke trembled and fell to one knee, catching himself with the tip of his _kodachi_ buried in the ground.

"It's my own version of _Kyōmeisen_," Noboru explained.

Sasuke could hear the man's footsteps coming closer at a steady pace, but his head felt too heavy to raise.

"If one can vibrate metal, such as my senbon, at a high enough rate, it will heat."

Sasuke's vision was swimming again. He looked up, only to see the sky painted a hazy orange while the trees had turned purple.

"Once heated, the chemical within the senbon boils and evaporates through the pores," Noboru continued. "I created those senbon myself, so I know how best to use them. The poison becomes a gas, entering through the lungs instead of the bloodstream. It takes a little longer to take affect, but the end results are the same."

Sasuke pushed himself to his feet and tried to look around. But everything was moving, all in different directions, and he could barely make out the shape of his allies, much less his enemy. At this rate he was more likely to run into the wall at his back than strike down anyone trying to get in.

"How does it feel to know you can't trust your precious eyes, Sasuke-_kun_?" whispered Noboru, mere centimeters away from his ear.

Reacting instinctively, Sasuke jerked to one side and swung his _kodachi_ in the direction of the hateful voice. He could tell by the feel that the blade hadn't found purchase in anything but air, but he couldn't trust his eyes. He could barely distinguish the trees from the men around him. Sasuke swallowed back the wave of nausea that accompanied the movement and colors his eyes _could_ see, and he closed his eyes.

He could still hear. Mostly the clash of battle going on around him. He heard grunts and the pinging of metal against metal. But hardly anything was distinguishable. He had never been trained to fight with only his ears or his nose. He was _not _some stupid Inuzuka. He had always had his eyes.

Except now he was, quite literally, blind.

* * *

A/N: Excitement! Drama! Blood!

I have to say, for Sasuke's fight scene, I drew a lot of inspiration from the Blind Zatoichi films. I've discovered that a lot of limbs get amputated in old samurai movies. But, I've also discovered that some of them are also a lot of fun. My current favorite would have to be _Bushi no Ichibun_, or 'Love and Honor.' I think it's a good period piece as well as a swashbuckling-type fun-fest.

Also, Chihiro, being Kurenai's daughter would _have_ to grow up with a ton of crazy uncles. First and foremost would be Shikamaru, of course, but I think Kurenai's team would also support her.

So, you get to see much more of Orochimaru's evilness, and Sasuke is in trouble. Don't worry. Naruto to the rescue!

Maybe.

'Til next month,

Fia

_Chidori Senbon_ – Thousand Bird Needles: A Lightning Element technique developed by Uchiha Sasuke. Sasuke is able to shape the Lightning Element to form senbon. Though unstated, these needles probably takes on Chidori's characteristics, including its ability to cut through most anything which stands in its path.

_Doton: Doryuu Taiga_ – Earth Flow River: A Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Earth Element. The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and transform the ground upon which the enemy stands into a river of mud.

_Gouryuuka no Jutsu_ – Great Dragon Fire Technique: A Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Fire Element. After forming the needed hand seals, the ninja will expel dragon head fireballs at their opponent. These powerful fireballs can punch through concrete.

_Kyōmeisen no Jutsu _– Vibrating Sound Drill: A Ninjutsu technique which uses sound waves created by Dosu's sound wave amplifier to disrupt a persons inner ear. After the amplifier releases sound waves, Dosu can use his chakra to move the waves directly into the inner ear of his opponent. Noboru's version involves directing the sound waves to affect the metal senbon he has already thrown at his opponent.

_Shunshin no Jutsu_ – Body Flicker Technique, as mentioned in previous chapters.

_Tajuu Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_ – Lots and lots of shadow clones.


	17. In Which He Protects

Chapter 16: In Which He Protects

_It is in your moments of decisions that your destiny is shaped._

~ Anthony Robbins

**o0O0o**

At the time of the quake, Hinata had been at the training grounds that bordered both the clan holdings for the main family of clan Hyuuga and the establishment for the branch family. Her eyes immediately spotted the mess that had become of the main street of Konoha. A swarm of enemy ninja, with their chakra coils bloated and malformed, were surging up from the ground, and only a few Konoha ninja were there to fight them.

Hinata took up the shuriken holster she had been practicing with and hurried for the edge of the training ground, fully intending to race to the scene and join in the fight. Konoha would need all hands to defend their home.

A sudden grip on Hinata's left arm halted her progress and forced her to turn around. The man who held her arm wore a bandanna around his head, with the metal _hitai-ate_ bearing Konoha's symbol facing outward. His eyes, like Hinata's, bulged with the effects of the Byagakun.

"My lady, where are you going?" demanded Hyuuga Ko.

"Konoha is under at-t-tack," she returned so viciously that she barely stuttered through the sentence.

Ko turned at once from his sentinel position of watching the Hyuuga heiress in order to scan the inner workings of the village as Hinata had. She knew he must see both the enemy appearing and Konoha's lack of reinforcements.

"Hinata-_sama_, we must return to the main house." Ko's hand on her arm gentled, but it was no less demanding for her compliance.

Hinata did not pull away as she wanted to. Ko had been her caretaker since she was fifteen. She became his responsibility when her father was away. Hinata understood that Ko's first priority was her safety, but she could hardly afford to remain indoors while her village was being attacked.

Hinata looked to the center of the village again and saw, with some degree of surprise, that the number of Konoha shinobi fighting against the encroaching enemy had nearly tripled. And many of them had identical chakra coils. They were clones. Hinata gazed at the brightness of the chakra flowing through all the clones and recognized it. Naruto was fighting. She didn't know if it was safe for him to stand his ground against an enemy when he had worked so hard to remain a secret. Or perhaps now he trusted his friends and his village once more and was determined to protect it, as he had been so many years ago.

"Hinata-_sama_," Ko called again.

Hinata's eyes caught a glimpse of a strange black and white figure overhead, not an animal but something that had its own degree of chakra infused within it. She looked up and saw a three-dimensional drawing of an ink-and-paper bird. It was one of Sai's recognizable techniques. The bird descended as Hinata watched it and landed in an outstretched hand. Hinata could see kanji characters on its wings, spelling out a message directly from the Hokage.

_Oto is attacking the village with large numbers. All who are available are asked to protect Konoha. Raiden is stationed in the center of the village_.

Here were her orders, then. And, as if she had needed any confirmation, they also told her where Naruto was. Hinata glanced up and stared at the rows of identical chakra coils. She couldn't see Naruto's true face as she had two nights ago, but she knew it was him. What else would Naruto do during an attack than protect his home? A part of her wanted desperately to rush to Naruto and help him, to see with her own eyes as well as her _doujutsu_ that he was all right. But perhaps that would only hinder him. And didn't the orders from Hokage-_sama_ call for all available ninja?

Hinata knew what she had to do.

"Ko-san, I will go back to the house," she said quietly.

Ko dropped his grip on her arm at the sound of her acquiescence and turned to accompany her back. Hinata broke him of the thought that she would remain quietly protected.

"You must go ahead to the Branch family and call up all Hyuuga chuunin or jounin that are off-duty and may remain among the clan holdings," she breathed.

"But, Hinata-_sama_," protested Ko.

"Hokage-_sama_ has called for all available ninja to defend Konoha," Hinata informed him. "The Hyuuga clan will do our part to protect our home."

She could not allow the ever-present divide in her family to matter now, not when her entire village was in danger. In the absence of her father, Hinata knew someone had to take charge. It could just as well have been the Elders of the clan, her father's peers and elders who advised him in his decisions. But Hinata still remembered her goal to become stronger, and why she had made that goal.

It had come from watching a boy who was constantly knocked down only to rise again and triumph over everything that should have kept him on his belly.

Hinata would stay safe, as Ko wanted, but she would also protect her home. She would be strong enough in her father's absence for everyone to look at her with pride. Including Naruto.

**o0O0o**

"I think we're lost."

"We're not lost," Mako immediately replied to the young boy by his side.

With Mei holding his right hand and a brown-haired boy even younger than her at his left, Mako felt a little bit like a glorified babysitter as he led the stream of students around another tight corner. They had twisted and turned their way through a series of alleys and walkways that were no part of the main road. So far, they were closer to the large Tower at the foot of the mountain but no closer to the mountain itself. But Mako just smiled and used his chin to point out the carved stone faces above them.

"See the mountain?" he demanded of the boy beside him. When the kid nodded hesitantly, Mako grinned all the wider. "That's where we have to go."

The trouble was, for as much as Mako was trying to act like _sensei_ — smiling and acting like everything was going to be all right — Mako still had no idea if the route he was taking the kids on would eventually lead to the mountain. And even if they did somehow end up at the base of the mountain, how were they going to climb their way up to the caves within? Most of the kids looked too young to know how to channel chakra to their feet in order to scale the side of a building, much less a mountain face.

Suddenly, Mako had an idea. He turned around, nearly spinning Mei and the young boy in place.

"Say, who here knows how to do the tree-climbing exercise?" he demanded of the group.

The "tree-climbing exercise" was what Naruto-_sensei_ had called it, even though Mako had ended up practicing it on almost every vertical surface he could find, given the fact that Naruto-_sensei_ had only taught him on the condition that he could keep up while _sensei_ made his way to Amegakure.

Much to Mako's disappointment, no hands shot up in immediate confirmation. He had half-expected it; after all, they were pretty young.

"My Ken-_nii_ told me about that one," piped up the young boy beside Mako. "He learned it on his genin team.

"And none of you are genin?" Mako asked, just in case he was missing some weird rule about wearing _hitai-ate_.

But the kids only shook their heads or looked at him blankly. Mako cast his eyes back to where Kaito stood at the rear of the very short party. Kaito shrugged at him helplessly.

"Okay, new plan," muttered Mako. "You go up and see where we are."

Mako released Mei's hand in order to jerk his thumb toward the sky. Kaito lowered his head and glared at Mako in response.

"You want _me_ to be a sitting duck?"

"A maze is easy to figure out when you can see all of it, right?" Mako pressed. "Just find out which way we need to turn and come right back."

Kaito's mouth twisted in displeasure, but he walked over to the building to the north and jogged up the wall with no hesitation.

"Cool!" breathed one of the younger girls.

Reminded of his responsibility, Mako glanced down at Mei to see if she wanted his hand back. But Mei was just staring up at Kaito's latest accomplishment, being able to walk vertically up the wall with ease. Mako almost rolled his eyes; it wasn't like she hadn't seen either of them do that move before. With Mei supremely satisfied with watching Kaito, Mako turned to his other side. The boy was watching Kaito with almost more rapture than Mei was.

"Your brother does that?" Mako asked the kid.

"Yeah," breathed the boy. "He's on a team under his _sensei_."

The kid never took his eyes from watching Kaito's quick progress. Heck, Mako would've volunteered himself to take a peek up top if he knew it would lead to such hero worship.

"Hey, what's your name, kid?"

The question finally pulled the boy's attention back to Mako.

"I'm Shouta," he declared in a slightly put-out voice. "And my brother is Kenichi."

He spoke as if Mako should have known this, but in the few days Mako had actually spent within the village of Konoha, he hadn't met many kids his own age, other than those three other genin. Most of his time was spent either with Kaito and Mei or with Naruto-_sensei_.

"Mako!"

Mako's eyes suddenly snapped up to where Kaito stood on the edge of the roof, his back to the street where the kids stood looking up at him. Kaito's call was demanding and tense, and Mako clenched his hand around Shouta's smaller one, just in case.

"Get up here," Kaito called with no give in his tone.

Whatever Kaito was seeing wasn't good, Mako knew. He wondered if it was just that they were cut off from where they were supposed to be or if he had seen something worse, like a part of the battlefield where someone was bleeding. Someone like _sensei_.

Mako glanced around quickly, his neck almost snapping with the force of casting his eyes to and fro. A dark and empty building caught his eye almost immediately. It definitely wasn't the best option, but it wasn't like they _had_ a whole lot of other ones.

"Mei." Mako knelt down and laid his hands on Mei's shoulders, forcing the girl to face him. "If something goes wrong, you bring everybody into that building to hide."

He nodded toward the dark building. It looked like it had once been a pottery or ceramics shop. There was still a dark, cast iron teapot in one of the windows.

Mei suddenly looked very nervous.

"It's okay," Mako reassured her quickly. "It's probably nothing, but I gotta go help Kaito, okay?"

"Okay." Mei nodded.

Mako didn't pause to reassure her again. He tore right toward the wall and used his momentum to run up the wall. His feet carried him right over the lip of the flat building roof, and he pitched his weight forward so that he landed in a crouch next to Kaito. As soon as Mako had enough balance to scan the skyline of the village toward the mountain. He saw immediately what the problem was.

"_Shimatta,_" Mako cursed through gritted teeth.

"Orochimaru-_sama_'s pet," hissed the boy they faced. "Of all places to run into you again."

The boy from the forest, Hikaru, already had inked lines covering every visible part of his skin that wasn't concealed by his pale _yukata_. Mako remembered what had happened the last time they had faced this boy. At least this time, it seemed like he was alone.

Then, another boy landed on the roof. The new boy had shortly cropped, brown hair and carried a short sword in his right hand. Mako recognized him as Hikaru's teammate from the encounter in the woods of Hi no Kuni.

"Oh, Leaves," the newcomer said.

"Shut up, Yuuta," Hikaru commanded coldly.

Last time, Mako had easily trapped the Oto-genin with a Douton jutsu, but they weren't anywhere near the ground now. And Mei and the others were down below them.

"Where's your little teammate?" Mako demanded loudly, hoping Mei would hear him. "Aren't there usually three of you Oto guys?"

The boy now identified as Yuuta just smirked smugly at Mako.

"_Oi!_ Akio!" he shouted.

For a response, a boy in a stocking cap hopped onto the roof and landed on Hikaru's other side. From the corner of his eye, Mako saw Kaito roll his eyes so hard, his neck almost followed the motion until Kaito was looking at Mako instead of the three boys standing against them.

"You had to ask, _ahou_," Kaito muttered.

Mako flinched. Just a little.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke was not doing well. His eyes closed and his blade drawn, he felt ill-equipped and almost weak. He had not been this disabled in years. Even when Konoha saw fit to attach inked seals to the sides of his head in order to prevent him from activating his _doujutsu_, he had retained the regular use of his eyes. He had still been able to see. Now whenever he opened his eyes, his mind was swamped with images that made no sense. At one point, he had dared to crack open his eyes to see if the effects of whatever he had inhaled had dissipated. All he could see were trees growing out of the sky and strange figures that looked like giant fish sailing past him.

"You are not looking well, Sasuke-kun."

Noboru's voice floated to Sasuke's ears from somewhere to his left. Sasuke gripped the handle of his sword more tightly but didn't move. As he was, he would have to rely on his ears and hope that whatever poison Noboru had thrown at him had only affected his eyes. Self-conscious, Sasuke raised a hand to brush at the beads of sweat tickling the edge of his temples, just below his _hitai-ate_.

"Maybe," Sasuke admitted, because any attempt to deny the truth of Noboru's statement would just make him sound like Naruto. "But at least I no longer have to see your face."

Then again, maybe he sounded like Naruto already. Sasuke was going to hit the idiot for burrowing his way into Sasuke's speech patterns.

Sasuke heard a small chuckle then a rustle of cloth. He tensed in preparation for an attack and kept his ears trained on the place Noboru's voice had originated.

"_Doku Kiri._"

Recognizing the technique, Sasuke jumped backward and cursed his own blindness. He couldn't see the cloud of poison moving at all, and he had no way to dispel it on his own. Sasuke was not skilled in Fuuton. Suddenly, Sasuke sensed a barrier behind him only seconds before he crashed into it. He managed to twist his body around the rough surface of what he had struck with his back, and he wrapped his arm around the circular surface. The jolt shocked all of the air from his lungs, and it took him a moment to channel enough chakra to his free hand in order to stick to the surface instead of falling. He felt rough bark beneath his palm and wondered briefly how far he had managed to get from the main gate of Konoha.

Sasuke slammed his _kodachi_ into the trunk of the tree below him and balanced one foot on it to keep its position marked in his head. With his other foot attached to the tree, Sasuke quickly flipped through a series of hand seals and then extended his hands in front of him, casting all the clear senses he possessed around him to feel for a recognizable chakra.

"_Hibashiri_," he whispered when he felt his opponent.

He felt the heat from the fiery whips that extended from his hands and focused on pointing the flames toward the human he felt on the ground fifteen meters in front of the tree he was perched in. The smell of burnt flesh tickled his nose and made him release the jutsu. He could feel wisps of pale smoke rising from his fingertips, which were suddenly quite warm.

Sasuke reached down and extracted his sword from the wood of the tree, flipping down to land on the ground. With his eyes still closed, he focused on what remained of Noboru's chakra. It wasn't the best method Sasuke could think of; he had never had the necessary talent of a chakra sensor like Karin, and he had never been trained as a silent killer, able to identify the enemy's position merely by the sound of their heartbeat. He needed another way—

"Close," came Noboru's voice again. "But you missed my heart."

Despite the man's words, Sasuke could still smell the sharpness of singed hair. Apparently his aim had been good enough to hit _something._ It just hadn't been a killing blow.

His fire was too uncontrollable. Sasuke couldn't ensure he would defeat Noboru that way unless he was willing to engulf a large area in flames. He was still too close to Konoha to allow himself to do that. His _Raiton_ techniques required even finer targets, which Sasuke had no way of identifying without even his regular eyesight.

Sasuke dared to open his eyes to see how much he was still affected. The sights that greeted him were growing steadily more bizarre. The ground he was standing on tossed back and forth like the tide of an ocean, and yet Sasuke could feel his feet firmly planted in the grass. He couldn't see the tall, solid wall around Konoha at all. What figures did stand up on the moving ground flickered in and out of existence in abstract colors like purple, florescent green, and one that seemed a cross between Naruto's favored orange and the burnt color of dead leaves.

Sasuke closed his eyes again and grit his teeth in an attempt to forget the confusing images that wormed into his brain from his eyes. That was not real, and Sasuke couldn't rely on it.

"I applaud your efforts, Sasuke-kun," Noboru called. "But it seems without your eyes, you are nothing more than a boy playing at being ninja."

There was a _shing_ of metal being drawn, and the faint _clink_ of metal striking metal. Sasuke inhaled and smelled green leaves, earth, and the lingering scent of fire. A plan formed in his mind, and Sasuke gripped his sword harshly.

"Bring it," he murmured, knowing the other ninja would hear him.

He only heard the _zing_ of the senbon speeding through the air moments before he dodged, jerking to his left with more purpose than grace. The necessary movement distracted him from paying attention to the sounds around him, but he kept moving.

"Do you think your luck will keep me from hitting you?" Noboru asked, his voice much closer than it had been. "_Jouro Senbon_."

A rush like rain, but heavier, soared in Sasuke's ears. Raising his _kodachi_, Sasuke slashed the air over his head as he darted back to his left again. He heard his blade strike away a handful of senbon from the multitude raining down on him and briefly felt triumphant. Then, something twinged in Sasuke's left calf, and he suspected he hadn't dodged quite as well as he had wanted.

Suddenly, the twinge in Sasuke's calf, where he felt the needle enter his skin like an insect bite, grew. His muscles froze as if he had worked them too hard, and they had all started cramping at the same time. Sasuke inhaled sharply and let himself sink to his left knee. Luckily, the affected area seemed to be limited to below his knee only on the one leg.

"You have no hope," Noboru announced calmly. "No reinforcements are coming to your aid. Your attempt to draw out this battle has failed."

Noboru sounded much closer now. Sasuke imagined that he had to make a picture of an enemy on the brink of defeat. He hadn't opened his eyes in several minutes; he was regulated to dodging; and now he was hunched over with one leg nearly paralyzed. Sasuke furrowed his brows against the strange pain in his leg and dropped his sword. His fingertips brushed gently over the grass as he tried to concentrate on his ears. Soft footsteps slowly approached him.

"Perhaps you are not as strong without Orochimaru's own power augmenting your own," Noboru said reflectively.

**o0O0o**

Naruto balanced himself on the wall to the east of the main gate and surveyed the scene below him quickly. Although his sage chakra had run out somewhere on the way to the gate, Naruto still had the use of his eyes. The majority of the bodies on the ground looked like they wore Oto _hitai-ate_, but Naruto was almost sure he saw that chuunin Izumo resting with his back against the stone wall that protected Konoha. Naruto scowled as he slapped his hands together and created two dozen more Kage Bunshin. His clones all jumped down from the wall and formed a barrier of bodies between the remaining Oto-nin and the wall of Konoha. Naruto grinned widely and turned to the masked man beside him.

"Ta-da!" he cried. "Instant back-up."

The hooked-shaped _tori_ mask simply looked back at him without saying a word. Naruto didn't feel any agitation in the man's chakra, but with the Hyuuga one never knew.

"Ah, c'mon, Neji," he whined at the ANBU. "Some of us haven't gotten the chance to look cool ever since we were genin like you."

The bird mask tilted slightly, the only sign that Naruto was actually getting under Neji's skin.

"You have had plenty of opportunities in your own mask," Neji reminded Naruto in a stoic voice.

Naruto pursed his lips and looked away. He knew Raiden had a reputation for destruction and strength and general bad-ass-ness. That didn't mean quite the same thing as 'cool' to Naruto.

"And please refrain from calling me by name," Neji added.

Naruto huffed but nodded anyway. He understood that ANBU were supposed to be secret. They wore masks for a reason, after all, and Naruto understood — if he understood anything — the need for masks. One by one, the other three members of Neji's ANBU team landed in a line on the wall beside Naruto and Neji. He saw the ANBU captain look down at the battlefield but couldn't tell what she was thinking. Then, the monkey mask turned back to Naruto's fake face.

"More _bunshin_?"

The question wasn't accusing, but it was the most curious Naruto had ever heard an ANBU be. He let out a grin that usually only occurred when he had gotten caught in the midst of a prank.

"It's kinda my specialty."

Actually, there were a number of things that could be considered _his_ specialty, not the least of which was the _Rasengan_ technique that only he could perform. But he supposed Kage Bunshin counted just as well.

Neji seemed to snap to attention with the presence of his superior.

"The Oto-nin are guarding a point thirty meters to the south," he reported succinctly.

"My clones can protect the gate from here," Naruto offered his own support to the ANBU-_taichou_. "And I have enough to get the wounded back to the hospital."

The ANBU captain stared at him as if she would be able to determine his trustworthiness simply by making him stare into her mask for a while. Naruto's eyes jumped from the captain to Neji's mask, wondering if he would have to prompt Neji into telling the ANBU-lady that he could actually be trusted. But then the captain turned away and faced the southern road again.

"Very well," she declared.

Naruto grinned at her despite the impending situation. He was getting kinda used to slowly drawing people back to his side, convincing them that he was worth acknowledging. The ANBU captain inclined her mask toward her team.

"Let's go."

The four ANBU disappeared within the next breath, leaving Naruto alone on the wall. For a moment, Naruto stared into the south and pouted. He could disappear just as easily as those guys could. Probably even better, because no one else had the kind of seals that he did. Naruto pushed the thought from his mind and jumped down from the wall. He landed next to Izumo, who was staring at where one of Naruto's clones was taking on an Oto-nin with pale, ashen skin.

"You all right?" He laid one hand on the man's back to support him.

Izumo winced.

"I think one of 'em broke my ribs," he muttered with a reassuring smile that came out more of a grimace.

"Don't worry, we'll get you to the hospital," assured Naruto. "Have you seen Sasuke? Uchiha Sasuke?"

He added the clarification when Izumo frowned at him. Naruto didn't quite know if the frown was because Izumo didn't like Sasuke or if he just didn't expect someone like Naruto to be asking after the last Uchiha.

"The last I saw him, he was fighting with an Oto shinobi," Izumo coughed through his explanation. "This one was different. He didn't have the crazy seal."

Naruto nodded. That was probably Noboru. He knew he had felt his chakra before. With a wave of his hand, Naruto summoned one of his clones beside Izumo. As the clone began to carry the injured man on his back, Naruto took the opportunity to stand perfectly still and draw in the energy that existed in abundance in the middle of a deep green forest.

As awareness trickled in, Naruto reached out for the familiar feeling of his comrades and friends. Neji and his ANBU team were quite successfully trapping most of the Oto-nin invading through the tunnel in between two crushing Douton jutsu. Meanwhile, Naruto's clones were in the process of beating down most of the Oto-nin. The problem was less their superior strength or training and more the sheer numbers of the enemy. Strangely, Naruto didn't feel Noboru anywhere. The bastard might have fled, but—

Suddenly, Naruto's eyes snapped open, and he stared in the direction he had felt the chakra that was both familiar and poisoned. Leaving his clones to fight their battles, Naruto bolted down the road and darted into the trees that lined the dirt road leading into Konoha.

"Sasuke!" he cried, half-hoping Sasuke would actually be smart enough to accept help.

**o0O0o**

"Tch." Shikamaru clicked his tongue around the cigarette in his mouth. _"Mendōkusei_."

"_Chou Harite_!"

Shikamaru heard the cry that signaled one of his best friend's best attacks. He glanced to his left and saw Chouji, whose arms and hands now stretched to twice their normal size. Chouji was just lifting his enlarged palms from the ground, revealing the broken bodies of three more of their enemy.

Unfortunately, that only accounted for about ten percent of the total number Shikamaru and Chouji were facing.

"_Kage Nui_."

Shikamaru whispered his own technique, exhaling a bit of smoke as he did. Solid threads of shadow shot up from the ground and pierced through five more of the unnaturally tough Oto soldiers. They were only deadly because Shikamaru had had the foresight to attach kunai to the ends, resulting in a stab wound that was more than just solid shadow. So far they had eight down.

Chouji stepped up to Shikamaru's side with his hands still raised in loose fists, as if he would start a brawling match any moment.

"Where the hell did all these guys come from?" Chouji demanded. "And why here?"

Shikamaru glanced at their surroundings. The cliff face that made up Hokage Mountain loomed above them, and Konoha's wall stood at their backs. There was already a large, round hole in the wall, and Shikamaru had definitely heard the tell-tale sounds of fighting within the northeastern quadrant of the village.

"They're closer to the Tower here than at the main gate," muttered Shikamaru, trying to get a feel for the enemy's plan. "But the Shinoby Academy is also near this part of the wall."

It was a good strategy for someone like Orochimaru: Raze the next generation to the ground so that there was no one left to fight the war. It was only another reason Shikamaru was determined to remain where he stood. Beside his friend with their backs to Konoha, preventing any more of the enemy from coming through. They would trust those already within Konoha to protect the _ōshō_.

From his side, Shikamaru could hear his friend growl maliciously. He could understand Chouji's sentiments. Even if Shikamaru told people he was protecting the next generation as an ambiguous entity, his first thoughts were always of Chihiro. Between both Kurenai's and Asuma-_sensei_'s old teams, the girl probably had the most crazy uncles of any kid in Konoha.

"Why are you smoking?" a shrill voice suddenly demanded.

Shikamaru literally winced at the intrusion, mostly because he knew what would follow.

"_Mendōkusei_," he muttered again.

Ino jumped from the wall behind Chouji and Shikamaru and landed beside her old teammates. Shikamaru saw Chouji turn his back ever so slightly toward his teammate, not out of disgust but rather to face more of his enemy while protecting his team. He didn't think Ino noticed, and Shikamaru wasn't about to point it out. She'd probably get all flouting about how she was strong enough to protect herself. In fact, she looked like she was rearing up for a scolding even now.

"You shouldn't be smoking in this kind of situation!" Ino glared at Shikamaru so harshly that he didn't doubt the rumors that she was getting as scary as Mitorashi Anko within the T&I department.

Suddenly, Shikamaru pressed his back against Chouji's as he braced his stance more firmly into the ground. He brought his hands together, wrapping his smallest two fingers on his right hand around the first two fingers of his left, and his dark eyes sharpened like flint. Ino jolted as if he had hit her, but Shikamaru concentrated on his task.

"_Kage Mane no Jutsu_."

Ino lifted one hand and seemed almost surprised that she could move. Shikamaru almost rolled his eyes at her, but his strength was pretty much dedicated to holding the golem-like Oto-nin directly behind her.

"Can we discuss this later?" he inquired in a petulant tone.

At least he would have sounded petulant if he wasn't straining so hard to breathe. The Oto-nin was heavy. And _strong_.

Ino said nothing. She spun around in place, her long hair whipping its way behind her, and quickly formed a rough rectangle with her hands.

"_Shinranshin no Jutsu_," she muttered at the tall Oto-nin.

Immediately, Shikamaru felt the enemy break free of his shadow, but the gray-colored golem didn't charge for the trio of Leaf ninja. Instead, it roared at two other shinobi facing the defensive Konoha team and fell on the nearest one. A strike of the golem's large fist stunned the deformed ninja, and then the giant fell on the other's neck with his mouth wide open. His teeth sunk into the thick, tough flesh of the smaller Oto-nin, and the giant ripped out a chunk of skin like a man would bite meat off a chicken leg.

"_Kuso_," murmured Chouji, "I think I just lost my appetite."

Normally, a comment like that would have entitled Chouji to _some_ degree of ribbing from Ino. But when Shikamaru glanced at the girl to his right, Ino only looked pale and nauseous.

"Ino," he began.

"It's only supposed to confuse him," she whispered immediately. "The jutsu should make him see his allies as enemies, not as food."

Shikamaru forced himself to look back at the Oto-nin with his wide open maw full of blood and saliva.

"I don't think there's a difference to them."

A growl sounded beside Shikamaru, and he turned just in time to see Chouji punch away another Oto shinobi without even taking the time to enlarge his hand or arm. Chouji already looked much thinner than he usually did, which was not a good sign. If he was using up that much chakra already, Shikamaru knew his friend would have to end the battle quickly or risk the need for his family's pills. Meanwhile, neither the Nara nor the Yamanaka family jutsu were initially meant to take on multiple opponents at once. Shikamaru would need a plan if he and his team were going to make it through this unscathed.

**o0O0o**

Noboru coughed low in his throat and pressed the heel of his left hand against his ribs. The skin there was tight and red, and a large portion of his shirt was missing from where Uchiha's fiery whip had singed him. Even blind, the Uchiha had better aim than Noboru had thought. Striding his way toward the man on the ground, who was groping in the dark for the sword he had dropped, Noboru meandered his way around the silver needles embedded in the ground. Surprisingly, seeing his enemy crawling on his hands and knees brought no satisfaction. Noboru wanted nothing more than to end this fight.

He twirled a senbon between his first two fingers. This particular needle contained a barbiturate that would paralyze Uchiha's internal functions until he simply died. From what Noboru could tell, the poison he had already administered was already taking effect, but if Uchiha had copied any _iryou-jutsu_, he could prolong his life despite the loss of his sight. It was better to get this done with.

Noboru flicked the needle at Uchiha, aiming for the exposed throat. Uchiha rose on his knees upon hearing the brief _ting_ of Noboru's fingernail against the metal needle, but Noboru knew it was pointless. Uchiha wouldn't be able to block the needle.

However, the kunai that flashed in front of Uchiha and knocked the senbon out of the way was much more apt to protect the injured man. Noboru watched a flash of red and black come suddenly to a halt in front of Uchiha and adjusted his stance slightly.

"Raiden-_sama_," he greeted the man politely. "Yet again, you come to Uchiha's aid."

Raiden had a habit of doing that ever since Noboru had seen them first together in Hafuko. Noboru wondered about it only long enough to put up his guard, just in case Uchiha became just as touchy of a subject for Raiden as his student Kaito was.

Raiden tried to keep his body between Noboru and Uchiha while also glancing over Uchiha's slumped figure.

"What the hell did you do to him, _yarou_!" Raiden turned a livid glare at Noboru.

Noboru deliberately raised his shoulders as if he couldn't be bothered to care about the man he had been about to kill.

"I thought someone so proud of his eyes should see what it was like to be blind."

Noboru knew about Uchiha Sasuke, and how badly Orochimaru had wanted the Uchiha _doujutsu _for his own. Noboru did not see the appeal of the Sharingan. There were things that he knew that no one on earth could copy merely because it was practical knowledge that applied to improving his chemicals or his weapons. It wasn't something that the Sharingan could copy, which only served to prove that the Sharingan was not the ultimate weapon that Orochimaru had thought it was.

Besides, Uchiha Sasuke had spent nearly three years with Orochimaru. He had been a traitor to his village, a status deserving of death in most countries. And yet, here was Uchiha Sasuke, wearing a _hitai-ate_ of Konoha and defending the village he had rejected as if he had been welcomed back with open arms. Uchiha was deemed too precious for his village to throw away, a favorite among a culture of killers.

Noboru had no such guarantee of his status. He was the son of a rice farmer, if his father was even still alive somewhere within Ta no Kuni. He had only risen within the ranks of Otogakure because of his knowledge of biochemistry, and that had only come after much study and practicing on whatever animals Noboru could get his hands on. He had worked hard to get where he was, and he hated that Orochimaru's former favored pet had everything handed to him, both by Orochimaru and by his pathetic village.

"Go away, _dobe_." Uchiha scowled in the direction of Raiden's head while keeping his eyelids pinched shut. "I don't need your help."

Noboru merely raised one eyebrow in a cynical gaze he knew Uchiha couldn't see anyway. While it was not that surprising that Uchiha was too proud to accept help from a comrade, Noboru focused instead on the casual way Uchiha addressed Raiden. As far as Noboru knew, Uchiha had known nothing about Raiden when Konoha had first come across the _nuke-nin_ in Hafuko. Perhaps the two had grown close since that time, or perhaps they already had an established relationship that Noboru did not know about — unlikely but possible.

Raiden didn't seem to mind the insult nor the way Noboru hadn't moved since Raiden's sudden appearance. Instead, the man in the red and black coat crouched down next to Uchiha and shoved the man forcefully back so that he rested on the ground with his back supported by the trunk of a large tree.

"The hell you don't," Raiden growled at Uchiha. "Stay here, I'm gonna go kill 'im."

Noboru did some quick calculations in his head and remained where he was, confident in his math skills.

"You won't kill me," he stated when Raiden stood and faced Noboru with purpose etched into his face.

Raiden glared in return and retrieved a straight kunai from the pouch on his right thigh.

"Give me one good reason why not."

As he expected, Noboru didn't even have time to respond before Uchiha's eyes fluttered open then quickly rolled backwards in his head. The sound of his head knocking against the bark of the tree caught Raiden's attention, or maybe he could tell something was wrong already. Either way, Raiden snapped his head over his shoulder just in time to see the Uchiha go limp.

"Sasuke!" he cried.

"His hallucinations will worsen within the next sixty seconds," Noboru explained. He had Raiden's complete attention now; he could feel it on him. "After ninety seconds, he will develop a high fever that will steadily rise. I made sure his hypothalamus would be incapacitated. The fever will cause seizures, and soon after, brain damage."

Noboru paused long enough to call attention to the silence that surrounded the trio in the forest. Already, Uchiha's breathing sounded shallow and pained.

"But I'm sure Konoha has some medical experts of their own," Noboru concluded.

Raiden's eyes narrowed. His frown seemed to pull the skin around his eyes in strange shapes so that his eyes almost seemed too flat. But the strange pupils embedded in Raiden's yellow irises could have created that illusion on their own.

"Bastard," Raiden spat.

Noboru commanded his nerves not to show on his face. What he had said about the poison in Uchiha's system was true, but he was taking a chance in his assumptions about Raiden. Now it was time for him to prove that true as well.

"You don't like killing, Raiden-_sama_," Noboru stated. "You grow cold every time someone mentions Asahi. If you were truly Orochimaru's enemy, you would boast of your actions there."

As expected, Raiden's muscles tightened in his entire body. His expression would have looked exactly like a man who had been offended had it not been for the fury laced within Raiden's strange eyes.

"I _am orochi-teme_'s enemy."

"You are," Noboru agreed. "But are you the enemy of the genin currently attacking Konoha?"

Raiden's expression froze into a blank mask of hatred, but even Noboru could see the fire go slowly out of Raiden's eyes.

"Yes," Raiden finally said.

"Even though most of them are children, unaware of their own actions?"

Noboru had half-expected a flinch from Raiden at that reminder, but Raiden only remained frozen. Noboru still suspected that his assumption was right: Raiden would rather save those he knew than kill those he didn't. But Asahi had still happened, proving that Raiden could still harden his heart to what was necessary. Noboru had to pull out one last incentive.

"They can be stopped," he announced.

For a moment, Raiden looked puzzled, and Noboru hurried to explain.

"Twenty milliliters of cortisol plus ten of chlordiazepoxide injected directly into the bloodstream will halt the chemicals enough to cause the seal to recede." His words came faster than they had previously at any point in the conversation.

It wasn't even a guaranteed fix; some of the Oto-nin might be able to overcome the cocktail of drugs meant to act as a sedative. But it was the only all-inclusive chemical mix that Noboru had in the banks of his memory. Raiden frowned outright at Noboru but made no move to attack the man.

"Why are you telling me this?" he demanded.

"You don't like killing."

And whatever other questions Noboru _still_ had about Raiden's biology or methods, or jutsu, Noboru knew he was right about that.

Uchiha suddenly lost his battle with consciousness completely, slumping forward until his face fell into his own lap. Raiden abandoned his post in front of Noboru and crouched by Uchiha again. Noboru watched the way Raiden gently cradled Uchiha's head as he pulled the dark man into an upright position.

"Better hurry," Noboru instructed.

Raiden lifted one of Uchiha's arms and slung the unconscious man over his shoulder like a sack of rice so that Uchiha's top half hung down Raiden's back. Raiden stood and, without looking once at Noboru, turned toward the village of Konoha.

"I hope to talk to you again, Raiden-_sama_," Noboru called at the man's back. He did still very much want to know how the man had such an uncanny ability to cheat death.

Raiden turned just enough so that his free shoulder faced Noboru while Uchiha was shielded by the rest of Raiden's body.

"You ever show your face in front of me again, Noboru, I _will_ kill you."

His voice was as solemn as a vow, and his eyes were like deadly poison. Still, Noboru allowed himself to smile at the thought of encountering such an opponent as the god of thunder again.

"Then I hope you will at least show me your true face before I die," Noboru said.

Raiden only presented his back to Noboru again and jumped into the branches of the trees on his way back into Konoha. Noboru watched him for a moment, then turned and began walking deeper into the forest to the west of the village.

**o0O0o**

Naruto landed on the roof of the hospital with Sasuke still unconscious. Much to his combined expectations and disappointment, Sasuke hadn't woken up once during the rooftop traverse over Konoha. Noboru probably wasn't lying about the poison. Noboru tended to tell the truth about exactly what his poisons did to people. Naruto walked down the building, careful not to drop his precious cargo, and slipped through one of the many windows of the building, bypassing the main entrance entirely.

Inside the hospital seemed like chaos at first. It was only when Naruto paid closer attention that he noticed none of the people hurrying past him were running into each other or looking around searching for something to do or somewhere to be. They all had a purpose; they were just ignoring everything that had nothing to do with the task they were solely focused on. Naruto was impressed. They only time he had seen something like this was when he had been training with more than fifty of his own clones and had divided five different tasks among all of them.

"Kyoshi-_kun_, report to operating room three!" Naruto heard a familiar voice issuing orders. "They need someone there to perform _Chikatsu Saisei_."

"Sakura-_chan_!" Naruto called commandingly.

The _iryou-nin_ turned abruptly from her place at the end of the hallway and saw Naruto standing by the window with an unconscious body over his shoulder. Naruto turned so that she could see the face of the body he carried.

"Na—"

She cut herself off immediately at the first syllable, even though Naruto recognized what she had been about to yell. While he appreciated the secret-keeping — he didn't look anything like Uzumaki Naruto at the moment, anyway — this state of not being able to say what he wanted or have others call him by name was getting annoying. He would have to do something about that as soon as things weren't so chaotic.

Sakura left her station as a director of sorts and hurried over to Naruto's side.

"What happened?" she demanded as one of her hands wrapped around Naruto's arm with a vice-like grip.

Naruto allowed her to pull him along the hallway and into a nearby room.

"He was fighting against Noboru at the main gate," he answered.

Sakura slid the door closed behind them, and Naruto walked over to the single hospital bed in the room. With the door closed, the sounds of busy chaos from the hallway were muted and far away. Naruto laid Sasuke's body out on the hospital bed and turned to find Sakura at his shoulder. She pushed him away abruptly, but Naruto couldn't resent her for it when her face held a look of total concentration that he had last seen when Sakura had bent over a dying Sasuke while Naruto faced off a man in an orange and black mask who had been determined to break up Naruto's family.

"I didn't see any wounds on him other than his leg," Naruto said, hoping to help Sakura along. "But Noboru was saying he had poisoned Sasuke. He said the poison would cause a fever and seizures and maybe brain damage if Sasuke's hypo-something-or-other couldn't regulate—"

"Naruto, be quiet," Sakura snapped.

Sakura had her hands on Sasuke's bare chest, having cut his dark shirt straight down the middle. Naruto wondered briefly if the bastard would be angry about his clothes when he woke up. In all the confusion, his sage mode had completely run out, so he couldn't sense Sasuke's chakra in the innately connected way that nature chakra provided.

"He has two different contaminants in his system," Sakura declared.

Naruto frowned. He had never been — and still wasn't — very good at identifying what Noboru could do with all his twisted weapons. Anatomy and chemistry wasn't Naruto's specialty, and there had certainly been no one to teach him once he had left his home. The Gama clan had oil and bugs, but poison was something they let the snakes handle. But even Naruto knew that two contaminants meant there were two different things inside Sasuke's body that weren't supposed to be there.

"Can you get them both out?" Naruto leaned over the foot of Sasuke's bed, trying to do his best not to get in the way.

"Not at the same time," Sakura said through gritted teeth.

"I'll get someone to help you."

Naruto pushed himself away from the bed and practically vaulted for the door, intent on finding someone at least as good as Tsunade_-baa-chan_ to help Sakura-_chan_. Suddenly, just as Naruto reached for the door handle, Sasuke let out a gurgling scream. Naruto looked over his shoulder and saw Sasuke's body arch off the bed while Sakura jolted back to avoid one of Sasuke's fists flying toward her face.

"Naruto!" Sakura called.

Naruto immediately turned back and half-fell onto Sasuke. His body weight pressed Sasuke back onto the bed, but Sasuke's eyes were still wide and staring up at the ceiling.

"Get off me!" Sasuke screamed. "Get your slimy hands off me!"

Naruto almost protested that his hands were perfectly clean, thank you very much, _teme_. But then he saw the way Sasuke's eyes stared unfocused at a point only he could see. The young man didn't even have his Sharingan activated, which he should have if he thought he was under attack in any way. Naruto had seen it enough times while he hid behind his mask to know how much Sasuke relied on his _doujutsu_.

"Naruto, let me see his chest," ordered Sakura.

"Right," Naruto grunted and wondered just how to bring that about.

Sasuke was still thrashing and was perfectly strong despite his brief bout of unconsciousness. Naruto growled low in his throat at his best friend and climbed into the bed himself. He kept his hands on Sasuke's shoulders, pinning his arms to the bed, and managed to put one knee on Sasuke's breastbone while Naruto's other leg rested at Sasuke's side. Naruto tried to keep most of his weight on his free leg; he didn't want to suffocate Sasuke, after all. But then Sasuke's knee flew up into the middle of Naruto's back, and Naruto seriously reconsidered his position on the suffocating.

"Calm down, or I'm gonna sit on your face, _teme_," he growled at the man underneath him.

Sakura held a scalpel delicately in her right hand and bent over Sasuke's side.

"Hold him still, Naruto."

Naruto leaned a bit more over Sasuke, carefully watching the man breathe to make sure he was still getting enough air. Sakura made a slice in Sasuke's left side, just over the bottom curve of his ribs.

"Sakura-_chan_?" Naruto began worriedly.

"I need access to his blood," Sakura explained, not looking up at Naruto. "One of these poisons is causing Sasuke's psychosis, and I can't tell which while it's still in his system."

For as much as Naruto only understood about half of what Sakura had said, he trusted her that this was the best treatment for Sasuke.

"I'll tear your eyes out," Sasuke hissed in a strangled voice.

"Go ahead." Naruto leaned forward so that his face was directly above Sasuke's. "I'll just grow them back."

Actually, Naruto wasn't entirely sure he could do that, but Kyuubi _had_ nearly regrown an entire lung for Naruto that one time when Sasuke had gone a little far with his _Chidori_. Sasuke's eyes were still unfocused, and Naruto wondered if Sasuke really saw him as an enemy or if someone else was threatening Sasuke in his state of psycho-whatever-it-was.

Naruto glanced to his side and watched Sakura catch a glob of Sasuke's blood in her hands, which were coated with a solid layer of green chakra. He tried not to look at the still-seeping wound as Sakura balanced the red blood between her hands. The blood started to congeal as if it were separating, but instead of yellow plasma and thick, rusty liquid made of blood cells, the two liquids were red and a dusty, dark turquoise. Sakura grit her teeth as she held the foreign turquoise substance up. Slowly, that, too, began to separate into a blue substance and a thicker, poisonous green.

"I got it!" Sakura cried triumphantly.

Sasuke bucked underneath Naruto's grip and nearly dislodged the knee on his chest.

"Sakura." Naruto's call was mostly a warning, but he didn't want to distract her from her work.

"You killed them," Sasuke panted. "You killed them all."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke's face hesitantly. The first thing he thought of was Asahi, where Naruto had, indeed, killed everyone who had been within range of his _Kamikaze_. But then, Sasuke was hallucinating, wasn't he? He probably didn't know anything about Asahi except what Naruto himself had told him. So, the next logical choice was someone related to Sasuke's past.

Naruto could only think of one person Sasuke hated that much. He leaned down to get Sasuke's attention.

"What about it?"

He forced himself not to address Sasuke as _teme_. Itachi wouldn't have done that. At least Sakura's work seemed to be doing something; Sasuke was looking directly at Naruto now instead of gazing at the ceiling at something only he could see. Naruto didn't even blink as he met Sasuke's hateful gaze; he had more than enough practice in dealing with hate. Although a part of his mind was laughing at how Sasuke could look at blond hair and a round face and somehow see his brother in all that.

"They were my family," growled Sasuke. "You killed them."

"Yeah, I killed them." Naruto rolled his eyes. Obsessive-Sasuke was pretty repetitive. Naruto wondered if he had been this annoying when he said he would become Hokage.

"I'll kill you for that, Morishima."

Naruto's eyes widened as he stared into Sasuke's fevered gaze in complete shock. Suddenly, Sasuke's eyes rolled back in his head, and he collapsed under Naruto's weight.

"Naruto!" Sakura yelled at the boy who was still gaping. "Get off his chest!"

Naruto scrambled to one side of Sasuke, nearly sitting on the guardrail on the opposite side of the bed as Sakura stood.

"He was hallucinating!" Naruto protested. After all, he had definitely _needed_ to pin Sasuke down up until only a moment ago.

Now, Sakura looked like she had the green poison out of Sasuke's body. A shallow metal tray beside Sakura held the thick green liquid while she kept one hand on top of Sasuke's chest and the other on the slice across Sasuke's ribs. Naruto glanced at Sasuke's sleeping face. He didn't show any signs of pain or the hatred that he had so obviously felt a moment ago.

"He thought I was Noboru," murmured Naruto.

He was still trying to wrap his head around that. He knew the hallucinations that Noboru's poisons induced could be like crazy nightmares or the worst genjutsu an enemy could come up with. Naruto had only gone through them once himself, but once was enough. Except, if Sasuke had been seeing Noboru's face on top of Naruto's, why had he been so upset about his family? Itachi was the one who had killed his family.

"I've got all the hallucinogen out of him," Sakura announced. Either she hadn't heard Naruto's puzzlement or she considered it secondary to her work. "The other poison is affecting his nerves. I'll have to make an antidote for that."

Naruto focused once again on the present and ignored any rambling thoughts about crazy dreams and insane killers.

"He'll be all right, now?" he confirmed, just because.

"He's out of danger for the moment," said Sakura shortly, "but I need to get that antidote if he'll ever be able to use his leg again."

Naruto nodded a bit absently even as Sakura rushed around the room. She returned to Sasuke's bedside with a tray of medical instruments, very few of which Naruto could identify. Before he could ask her, though, what she was doing or if she needed anything, the door to the room opened, and a young woman, slightly younger than Sakura herself, burst halfway into the room. She wore a white apron with the red symbol that identified her as a medic, and Naruto was secretly very glad to see her. This meant he didn't have to leave the room in order to find Sakura some help.

"Sakura-san!" the young woman called as soon as she caught sight of the pink-haired _iryou-nin_.

The new girl's body was still tense and leaning only halfway into the room as if she were going to bolt at any moment. Naruto wondered for a moment if that was because of his presence until he realized that he was still in a bed with Sasuke nearly pinned underneath him. Naruto vaulted off the bed now that Sasuke was no longer in danger of throwing himself into a fit; it was a good thing Sasuke was unconscious for all of this.

"What is it, Suzune-_chan_?" Sakura snapped vigorously, holding a glass vial up at eye level as she poured the green poison into the container.

"There's a giant snake that just appeared to the west of Konoha," Suzune announced in a panicked tone. "It isn't moving yet, but they say there's someone sitting on its head."

Naruto had frozen at the first mention of the word 'snake.' When he opened his eyes again, he realized exactly what a giant snake was doing so close to Konoha.

"And we've had at least ten more shinobi come in with signs of poisoning," Suzune continued. "Kumadori-_sensei_ is having trouble—"

"Orochimaru," Naruto suddenly growled through gritted teeth. "That _hebi-teme_ is here!"

He could feel the exact same chakra that he had felt in the underground base near the Valley of the End. The figure sitting on that giant snake was Orochimaru. He had positioned himself behind his own frontline, surveying the battle with all the air of a general sending his troops to die for his own victory.

Sakura still had both her palms on Sasuke's bare chest, but she shot Naruto a worried glance over her shoulder.

"What if Tsunade-_shishou_ knows?" she demanded. "She might try to fight him."

Naruto remembered a battle between snake, toad, and slug that had seemed completely epic at the time. But then he remembered attending a funeral for the strongest ninja in the village and wondering why people were willing to die so easily.

Naruto scowled to himself. He didn't wonder about motivations anymore; he knew how it felt to die for those who were precious to him. He knew he was willing to do that for his friends, his family. But he would not allow anyone else to die in his place. Konoha would need its Hokage.

"You—" Naruto pointed at Suzune abruptly. "You get a message to _baa-chan_. I'll go meet Orochimaru."

The younger med-nin nodded with wide eyes and scurried away. Naruto wondered if all girls were that jumpy at that age. He remembered Hinata having that kind of trouble whenever he talked to her, but then Hinata had always been like that. Alone in the hospital room again, Naruto turned back to Sakura.

"Noboru told me how to stop the curse seal on the Oto-nin," he said.

Sakura's eyes widened until they looked almost like the bowls at Ichiraku's.

"Naruto!" she gasped at him. "Do you remember what he said? You have to remember—"

"I know!" Naruto snapped impatiently. He closed his eyes and felt his brow crease into wrinkles. "He said twenty milliliters of cortisol and ten of chlor— chlor-dye—"

Damn, this was harder than he thought it would be. At least when Fukasaku had him reciting poetry, Naruto could recognize most of the words. Even the ones he didn't know, he had learned to pronounce or else get hit with the old toad's stick. However, it did do wonders for Naruto's ability to memorize.

"It was chlor-dye-ah-pox-ide, I think." Naruto opened his eyes and looked at Sakura, hoping she would be able to translate his abysmal pronunciation into something more resembling an actual cure.

"Chlordiazepoxide?" Sakura suggested. "It's a tranquilizer. It would relax their muscles so that they couldn't fight, theoretically. That might work."

Sakura was practically speaking to herself by the end of her statement. Satisfied that she would do something about the crazy Oto-zombies in the village, Naruto turned toward the door, intending to get out of the village to confront Orochimaru and make the bastard retreat. Naruto would probably have to make several _kage tensei_ in order to meet Orochimaru. There was no way he would ask anyone else to fight for him in such a dangerous situation.

"Naruto—"

Sakura's voice was nervous and shaking in a way Naruto hadn't really heard since she had dared to hold back her tears in front of him. He could still see her tears silently flowing down her cheeks and onto Sasuke's chest when they had first realized that their goal had been met: they were going to take Sasuke home to Konoha. Naruto turned around to smile reassuringly at Sakura.

"It's all right, Sakura-_chan_." He could feel his cheeks stretching absurdly with the force of his grin. "You take care of Sasuke. When he wakes up, tell him he's a pussy for passing out on me."

**o0O0o**

Sai peered down into the center of the village as he circled the skies on the back of a white and black _tengu_. The scene below him looked like strange intervals of chaos. He could see three different battlefields already. In the center of town, Kakashi was still looking after the main point of attack, while to the east, another group of strange Oto-nin fought both outside and within the gate. A team of Konoha shinobi had cut off the two forces, although Sai was too far away to identify the team.

Then, from his perch, Sai saw a figure in a red and black coat that seemed to as much a part of Raiden's character as the red and white mask he was so famous for. The coat made the form of Raiden the _nuke-nin_ stand out considerably but not, Sai thought ironically, as much as Naruto had with his penchant for orange clothing.

Naruto stood on the roof of the hospital and looked ready to bolt across the village toward the west. Sai wondered what was over there. All the battles seemed to be in other directions; toward the south or the east especially. Well, surely Naruto would not begrudge a little air support. As Sai used his chakra to guide his inked _tengu_ down to the roof of the hospital, Naruto looked up and met his eyes before Sai even had a chance to land.

"Sai," Naruto called from behind a Henge of a regular man named Genkei. "Did you get a message to everyone?"

Sai personally thought his messages at this point were a little pointless as it was quite obvious that the village was under attack. But Naruto, no matter the face he wore, cared about his friends.

"All the Rookies know," Sai answered. "Most of them are engaging the enemy directly."

"Yeah, I could feel Shikamaru and his team outside the wall."

Naruto gestured vaguely to the east, making Sai wondered just when Naruto had picked up the skill of having eyes in the back of his head.

"Orochimaru is outside the village." Naruto's eyes were once again pinned to the west. "I need to get there before anyone else."

"Why?" What was Orochimaru doing that required Naruto's specific attention?

But Naruto only glowered at the horizon.

"So I can keep him _outside _the village," he spat. "I think I'm strong enough to stop him."

Sai remembered a battle between a man who could slither his way out of practically any situation and a boy who was encased in chakra the same color as dried blood. He repressed his shudder, but only barely.

"The last time you fought Orochimaru, you lost to the fox," murmured Sai.

Naruto rounded on the dark young man standing beside him. Sai was expecting a flash of anger, indignation, and perhaps even a vow sworn to the high heavens that it wouldn't happen again. But Naruto only gave him a solemn smile.

"You're not thinking, Sai," Naruto said, as if he were reprimanding one of his students. "The last time I fought Orochimaru was two days ago."

The Mogami River, Sai realized. He hadn't been considering all Naruto had done while he was masquerading as Raiden. Every bingo book, even Mizu's, said that Raiden was an enemy of Orochimaru. While Sai didn't know all the details, it was likely Naruto had encountered Orochimaru since that time Sai had been sixteen and a spy on a team that had turned into a strange family.

"I've got better control now," Naruto announced as he looked back to the village wall.

Naruto crouched, and Sai could sense the moment before Naruto intended to jump.

"Wait," Sai called. "I'll take you there."

He gestured to the large, inky bird still waiting patiently on the hospital roof. Naruto shot the _tengu_ a questioning glance then looked at Sai as if he were about to refuse.

"You will need backup." Sai tried to state it the way he normally did his social faux paus or things that made others uncomfortable. His lack of tone made his statement seem more fact than a desperate attempt to keep an eye on his friend.

Finally, Naruto nodded.

"All right."

Relieved, Sai led the way to the _tengu_ and crouched onto the beast's back. Naruto climbed behind him and remained standing on the _tengu_ while placing his hands on Sai's shoulders for support.

"Straight west," Naruto ordered.

Obediently, Sai took off and urged his ink summons over the village. As the _tengu_ flew across the top of the concrete wall surrounding the village, Sai felt a strange warmth from the hands that rested on his shoulders. He craned his neck to look over his shoulder and upwards so that he could see Naruto's face.

"What are you doing, dickless?" he asked.

He wasn't actually sure Naruto was _doing_ anything. He certainly wasn't moving, despite the way his coat flapped in the wind. But his eyes were closed and his head bowed, as if he were concentrating on something.

"Wondering what would happen to your bird if I strangled you, idiot," Naruto shot back without opening his eyes. "Now shut up. And stop moving."

Despite the order — and Naruto's obvious annoyance — Sai kept looking up into Naruto's face for a moment. Slowly, the skin around Naruto's eyes turned red, the way a bruise would form from a punch. Sai had heard of Raiden's chakra-sensing abilities and decided to leave Naruto to it. They would need all the help in the upcoming battle as they could get.

Soon, Sai could see the head of a snake rise above the canopy of the forest as they left the village behind. Naruto, apparently done with his sensing trick, got on one knee behind Sai so that his face hovered beside Sai's ear.

"Get lower," Naruto instructed.

Sai guided the _tengu_ below the canopy and concentrated on steering the bird through the trees and branches that stood in their way to getting to Orochimaru. He was only half-paying attention to Naruto's explanation.

"I don't want him to see you until—"

Suddenly, Sai felt a hand grab the back of his neck. The solid ink-and-paper creation beneath him jerked and fell out from under him. Then, Sai realized that it wasn't a matter of the _tengu_ falling. Instead, Sai was flying backwards. The fist behind him had grabbed mostly the back of his shirt, but Sai could feel blunt fingernails scraping across the skin of his neck as he soared up and away from the _tengu_, which was sailing onward without either of its passengers.

Sai turned his head to see Naruto pulling at the back of Sai's shirt and almost yelled at him for doing such an outrageous thing, but then he heard a sound like a tree creaking from its base and falling. Sai faced forward again and saw a wall of solid wood surge in front of him, cutting off his pathway ahead. The _tengu_, which hadn't altered its path, slammed into the center of the tall new obstacle and splattered like an inkblot on a fresh sheet of paper.

The grip Naruto had on Sai's shirt released suddenly, and Sai found himself flying backwards with no sense of direction or what was around him. He stretched out his arms in hopes of catching a smaller branch, but then his fingers found warm flesh and held on. Sai jerked to a stop, hanging from the only support he had, and looked up. Naruto stood upside down, hanging by the soles of his feet from the underside of a large branch. His left hand grasped Sai's right wrist tightly.

Naruto quickly heaved Sai up so he could clamber onto the branch along with Naruto. As soon as Sai's weight was removed, Naruto bent his legs and transferred his body to the top of the branch, squatting down so that he was level with Sai's crouch.

"Naruto—" Sai began then stopped when Naruto held up a silent hand.

They were higher than the wall of wood now. Sai could see it from his position; it looked at least three feet thick. Naruto abruptly snapped his head back to Sai. Sai almost drew back at the anger in Naruto's strange, golden eyes.

"Hide," Naruto ordered with no give in his voice.

Before Sai could ask why or what had happened that was so significant, Naruto leaped from the branch and landed on a thick tree branch about half as high as the wall of wood stretched in the forest. It wasn't until Naruto placed himself directly in front of the obstacle that a man appeared by virtue of a transportation jutsu. He stood on top of the wood, surveying the forest below him with all the air of a predator looking down on his domain. Naruto hissed through gritted teeth and looked up at his adversary.

"No matter what I say," Danzo remarked casually, "you refuse to stay dead."

* * *

A/N: So, Danzo is not happy, Noboru has wandered off somewhere, and who knows _what_ Orochimaru is doing with his giant snake.

Well, I do, but that's beside the point.

I have glanced at the latest manga chapters and must tell you that there will be no Kyuubi!Naruto all in gold showing up. Since Madara never declared war on the world in my divergence, Naruto had no reason to go through training with Kirabi. I tried to reference it back in Chapter 8, but it's never been in the cards.

I also have to give another shoutout to Nemesis Jedi, who made me realize that Noboru is a very interesting villain. Much more so than Orochimaru, which means I have to actually do something with him now. Darn it.

And now that I have given you a lengthy chapter (with an even longer glossary), I must tell you that I am once again attempting the NaNoWriMo frenzy next month. But fear not, enthusiastic readers! I said before that I have this story planned out until the very last scene, so I already have the next chapter written! It just has to go through a couple of betas and I will post it in November sometime when I'm taking a break from the frenzied writing.

Until then, and wish me luck with my next novel!

Fia

_Chikatsu Saisei no Jutsu _– Healing Resuscitation Regeneration: Besides being a perfect example of why I don't use the (silly) English translations for jutsu, this is an advanced medical technique. The technique allows the medical ninja to use the hair of the one injured as a medium to reconstruct damaged body tissue. The injured person will be placed in the center of a square marked with rites for the procedure. Konoha's medical team used this on Neji after the failed Retrieve Sasuke mission in canon.

_Chou Harite – _Super Open Hand Slap: This is actually considered a taijutsu technique, but it's specific to the Akimichi clan. After increasing their body size, the clan member will focus a special chakra to their palms. They will then slam their palms directly into their opponent below, smashing them into the ground.

_Doku Kiri_ – Poison Mist: A B-ranked jutsu that is what it sounds like: a cloud of poisonous gas expelled from the body, usually the mouth. Shizune first uses this against Kabuto way back in canon Part I, but it seems to cater especially well to Noboru's love of chemistry and poisons.

_Hibashiri_ – Running Fire: A technique used in one of the anime movies (which I tend to stay away from). The jutsu actually is a way to shape fire into either lines or a spinning ring of fire, either of which can be guided toward a target.

_Kage Mane no Jutsu – _Shadow Imitation Technique: One of the basic Nara clan techniques. After forming the needed hand seals, the clan member is able to manipulate their shadow along any surface. Once the clan members shadow reaches the target shadow, it will attach itself. While attached the target will be frozen, only able to replicate in mirror form the actions of the clan member.

_Kage Nui – _Shadow Sewing: A Nara clan technique that Shikamaru uses in the epic battle against Hidan. To perform the technique Shikamaru will first form the needed handseal to extend his shadow. Shikamaru will then change the handseal to cause the shadow to emerge from the ground in tendrils. The tendrils can extend and whip about and are strong enough to pierce nearby targets.

_tengu_ – An bird-like spirit that is part of Japanese mythology. Sai's drawn creatures tend to be either abstractions or more traditional pictures of Eastern mythology, like his _komainu_. So I thought a _tengu_ would be more appropriate than a nondescript giant bird. Plus _tengu _were originally thought to be harbingers of war, and how perfect is that?

Hyuuga Ko – a canon character, believe it or not. He was identified as Hinata's caretaker during the Pein Invasion Arc while Hiashi was out of the village. I've sort of kept him on because it makes sense within the structure of a clan like Hyuuga for the eldest of the head to have either a bodyguard or a valet (for lack of better word).

_Jouro Senbon_ – Sprinkling Needles: This technique first comes up in the Forest of Death Arc, used against Gaara. The Ame-nin hurl their umbrellas into the air, then unleash a torrent of needles. Using their chakra they can guide these needles towards their opponent. It's only a C-rank technique, and Noboru likes needles, so Noboru knows the jutsu.

_ōshō – _the king in _shōgi. _Shikamaru has said before that Asuma taught him the king was really the next generation of Konoha, which is just a cool concept so I had to put it in.

_Shinranshin no Jutsu – _Mind Derangement Technique: A technique specific to the Yamanaka clan, used to confuse the targets body into attacking a nearby ally. The ninja will form the needed hand seal and then send their spirtual energy of confusion at his opponent. Though the opponent is mentally aware of his action, he is unable to stop his body from carrying out the attack. As Orochimaru's experiments are already messed up, the consequences of the technique are slightly . . . different.


	18. In Which They Kill

Chapter 17: In Which They Kill

_All war is deception._

~ Sun Tzu

**o0O0o**

Naruto nearly growled, but he clenched his fists tightly and glared up at where Danzo stood on the edge of the wooden wall that blocked his path to the west, where Orochimaru was waiting.

"What are you doing here?" he spat at the man with only one eye.

Danzo's expression never wavered.

"Did I not say that you were to be dead to Konoha?" Danzo questioned.

"As far as I know, that hasn't changed." Naruto scowled.

His name _was_ still on the Memorial Stone, and no one had talked yet about how the hell he was going to get it off. Naruto himself had been a little more concerned about his students and then the attack. Speaking of which, Naruto could feel Sai moving around in the tree Naruto had left him in. The dense idiot had better be on his way to a good hiding place. Naruto didn't want Sai to have to choose between his forced loyalty to Danzo and his loyalty to his friend.

"But it _has_ changed."

"What are you on about?"

Naruto tensed his legs to prepare to leap to the next tree branch. If he could bypass Danzo entirely, it would negate the problem. After all, his mission was to kill Orochimaru. Danzo had even agreed on that, so there was no way he could argue—

Naruto felt the chakra around him change a second before the wood he was standing on shifted and warped. A block of wood extended from the branch and wrapped around Naruto's left foot just as he tried to jump away. As a result, Naruto's momentum halted abruptly and jerked him backwards. He slammed his palms against the wood of the branch to keep his body from hanging upside down on the branch like a monkey's. Naruto felt the wood crack beneath his palms as he raised his head to glare at Danzo.

"Let me go," he demanded slowly and deliberately.

"My agents tell me that there are certain members of Konoha's shinobi forces that have addressed you by the name Uzumaki Naruto," Danzo stated as if being threatened by a pinned _jinchuuriki_ already in sage mode didn't concern him at all.

_That's because it's my name!_ Naruto wanted to shout, but didn't. He felt his nails draw blood from his palms and cursed himself three ways to next week. He had gotten too complacent around the village. Of course, Danzo would still have some of his ROOT members interlaced with Tsunade's ANBU.

Danzo knew that Naruto had revealed himself to Tsunade and his friends. And now, Danzo was taking it out on Naruto.

Suddenly, Naruto felt the only other human presence with them jerk in a weird motion that brought him in line right behind Danzo. Before Naruto could even think to curse Sai for being stupid, a small white and black insect with a wicked-looking stinger flew towards the back of Danzo's head. Danzo blinked, and for a moment Naruto dared to believe that the old man wouldn't see the danger coming.

Then, Danzo brought his hands up and sucked in a deep breath of air. He spun around and opened his mouth.

"_Shinkuu Gyoku_."

The air in front of Danzo shimmered. Naruto had practiced his Fuuton with the toads enough times to recognize the way air looked when it was charged with chakra. Globs of air, condensed into pressurized bullets, sped away from Danzo in an arc. One of the bullets tore through the flying scorpion that had been flying toward Danzo's head. But Naruto could sense where the rest of the bullets were aimed.

With a grunt, Sai fell from the canopy where the leaves had concealed him from view. His left arm was bleeding heavily; it looked like Danzo's jutsu had gotten a pretty good hit in. But Sai's stomach was already red, streaked with blood as Sai lost his grip on the tree and started to fall. That wasn't good.

"Sai!"

Naruto channeled a burst of chakra to the soles of his feet. The sudden surge was enough to shatter the wood that kept him captive. Naruto pulled his foot free and leapt over Danzo, bouncing off the trees to one side of the giant wall of wood that now stood in the forest. Naruto landed on the trunk of Sai's tree and just barely caught the back of Sai's shirt. It was kind of hard to get a grip considering how tight Sai wore his clothes. Naruto was going to talk to his friend about style choices when this was all over.

"You would _choose_ to attack me, _senshi_?" Danzo stepped forward calmly, walking along his perch on the wood toward Naruto and Sai.

"Naruto, let me go," Sai said from below Naruto.

Naruto looked down, a little surprised that Sai looked so alert. But he supposed Sai would have to lose a lot more blood to really be in danger of falling unconscious. That still didn't address the main problem of Sai trying to fight Danzo.

"No." Naruto's fingers tightened around Sai's collar.

"Naruto, I can't breathe."

Looking down, Naruto saw the front of Sai's shirt was being forced against his throat because of Naruto's grip on the back of his collar. Naruto scowled at such profound logic and tossed Sai toward a tree closer to Konoha.

"Told you to hide, idiot," he called to Sai.

"That would have been wise, _sai_."

_Shit_.

Naruto pushed himself off the trunk of the wide tree and landed on a branch between Danzo's line of vision to Sai, slightly higher than where Sai stood in the canopy. Danzo seemed to ignore Naruto completely.

"It would seem you have outlived your usefulness."

Danzo held up one hand toward Naruto, but somehow Naruto knew that he was aiming for Sai instead. Still in his sage mode, Naruto felt the twisted nature chakra surge through the wall of wood and focus on a point just below him. Naruto launched his body into a backward flip off his branch and sailed downward as he heard the cracking of wood suddenly growing far too fast to be natural. Naruto balled his hands into fists and crossed his arms into an "X" in front of his face. His strength had better hold out for his.

Naruto landed, as he planned, on the branch in front of Sai. The thick plank of wood sped toward them both as Naruto could feel Sai hover at his back just as the wood crashed into Naruto, his arms acting as the only barrier to stop the attack.

Naruto grunted at the force of the blow, but his feet stayed in place. He was sure that if he didn't have the added strength of sage mode, he'd be a pancake by now. Naruto glanced over his shoulder and looked at Sai with a frown.

"Go back to Konoha," he ordered. "You can't help here."

"Danzo—" Sai began to protest even as he kept his right hand clamped tightly over his bleeding arm.

"Danzo's not gonna kill me," Naruto interrupted. "He needs me. You're expendable to him."

"I can say nothing." A look crossed Sai's face that was half horror and half realization.

Naruto really hoped that whatever Sai remembered could wait until the battle was over.

"Go back and help the village."

"But—"

Naruto was getting sick of talking. The plank of wood in front of him wasn't bearing down on him like it had been. Hoping Danzo wasn't readying another attack, Naruto lowered his arms and turned around. This was going to hurt Sai a lot more than it would Naruto. He raised a fist and punched the branch between himself and Sai.

"Go!" shouted Naruto.

The force of his punch shattered the wood under his feet and sent Sai flying backwards. Naruto felt more than saw Sai catch himself on a thick branch, low enough to the ground that Sai could simply drop to the ground even without the use of chakra. Naruto clung to the edge of the trunk he had dropped to and watch Sai nod at him once then turn and run back toward Konoha.

"He will not be able to help you."

Naruto straightened so that he stood sideways, and he glared at the old crippled man still standing in his way.

"I have sealed up his tongue so that he can tell no one of our meeting," Danzo explained.

Well, that was just sick. But Naruto didn't show anything but disdain for Danzo.

"I wasn't expecting any help anyway," he said only half-honestly. He had gotten pretty used to handling things on his own. "Now let me past so I can kill that _hebi-teme_."

Danzo only stared down at Naruto.

"You broke your word," Danzo accused.

Naruto felt the heat surge through his veins and recognized it, but at the moment, he couldn't bring himself to care if his eyes were red instead of yellow.

"Your broke yours _years_ ago!" he snapped. "You were a shinobi of the Leaf. Doesn't that mean you're supposed to _protect_ the village?"

"I have always protected Konoha," said the man who stood unmoving above Naruto.

Naruto scowled and jumped up to the wall of wood. Standing just in front of Danzo, he was close enough to grab the man's half-open _gi_ that cradled his right arm.

"Protecting the village means not threatening its citizens, _bakayarou_," Naruto growled. "Orochimaru is attacking Konoha and you want me to . . ."

Naruto suddenly trailed off as his eyes caught a glimpse of flesh beneath the bandages that covered Danzo's right eye. The man _always_ kept that eye covered; Naruto had just assumed that the eye, like the man's arm, was useless. But now, Naruto could see a flash of red iris as the eyelid visible between the loose bandages peeled back. Naruto froze even before he recognized the teardrop-shaped black _tomoe_ within the depths of Danzo's right eye.

"What the hell?" Naruto barely whispered.

Danzo snapped his left arm up, forcing Naruto to jerk away from the kunai heading toward his ribs in a flat thrust. Releasing Danzo's shirt, Naruto landed a few meters away, keeping his balance on the barrier of wood.

"I have always protected Konoha," Danzo stated calmly. "You know nothing of what I steps I have taken to ensure Konoha remains strong."

"The strength of a village is in its citizens, in the next generation," Naruto spat. "Sandaime knew that."

"Sarutobi had become weak by the time you knew him." Danzo kept his left arm up, holding the kunai as if it were a _katana_. "He refused to see the true nature of shinobi."

With his left hand already holding a kunai, Danzo let the _haori_ drop off his right shoulder to expose his torso. Naruto grimaced. Danzo's right arm was obviously deformed, but not in the way that Naruto had always thought. The skin tone was different, as if it didn't truly belong to Danzo. And all along the arm were pockets of puckered skin, like scar tissue, surrounding red orbs with black _tomoe_ rotating slowly within them.

"_Kuso_," murmured Naruto. "What have you done?"

**o0O0o**

Kiba flipped over one hand and landed on his knees on the concrete roof of the building. A line of fabric struck the roof right where Kiba had been a moment before. Kiba didn't know how a combination of cotton and linen could manage to embed itself half a meter in solid concrete, but the Oto-guy managed to do it.

"Shino!"

He hated to admit it, but Shino was actually doing better than him in this battle. Every time that stupid Oto-nin sent out his long, flimsy sleeves as if they were whips, Shino's bugs — _allies_ — would crowd in front of Shino like a shield. The bugs scattered when the fabric came into contact with the bug-shield, and the enemy couldn't get a grip on Shino or his bug-allies. The Oto-nin had already destroyed two of Shino's insect clones and was apparently getting very annoyed at his repeated failure.

"Hold still, you stupid little Leaf!" he shouted with a frown marring his otherwise perfect face.

Did Orochimaru keep all his most valuable fighters because of their looks? Kiba noticed that a lot of them had the same features: smooth skin and pretty faces. He shivered. That was just creepy.

Shino dodged another attack from the Oto-nin and lifted his hand toward Kiba. Kiba followed the signs Shino was making with his one hand and then flicked his eyes to the next building over, where a figure in a chuunin vest lay unmoving.

"Right," Kiba muttered.

Kiba took full advantage of the fact that the Oto-nin was focused on Shino, and he jumped over to the other building. He laid his hand on the chuunin's shoulder and really hoped he wouldn't have to act as a med-nin. Kiba had never paid much attention in those classes.

"Iruka-_sensei_." Kiba shook the man's shoulder gently. "You okay?"

Iruka groaned and tried to press one palm to his head. Kiba had seen Iruka-_sensei _lead an impressive charge against the Oto-nin, drawing the man's attention while the students on the road below scrambled like puppies to get past the battle and to the safety of the bunkers within Hokage Mountain. But while the charge had been impressive, the blow that had flung Iruka through the air had been downright painful. Still wincing, Iruka sat up with Kiba kneeling beside him.

"What happened?" Iruka asked.

"Don't worry," said Kiba quickly. "The kids got out fine. They're heading toward the mountain."

Even as he said it, though, Kiba glanced down a side street that ran parallel to the mountain. He had seen a smaller group of kids run down the street when the battle had really started, and he knew that route didn't lead to the bunkers in Hokage Mountain. But he had seen Naruto's kids in with that group. Kiba was confident that at least Mako and Kaito would know enough about being on their own to guide the other kids to a safe place.

Hopefully they wouldn't feel the need to go and get into fights above their heads again.

Iruka nodded and slowly pushed himself to his feet. Kiba reached out to steady the man; it was still a little funny being taller than the same man who had taught him since Kiba had been eight. But then Iruka-_sensei_ lifted his head and surveyed the battle scene between the Oto-nin and Shino.

"Shino's bugs are dense enough to protect him," Kiba explained.

Iruka nodded thoughtfully.

"It looks like he's using chakra strings weaved through his costume to control the sleeves." Iruka touched his nose as he spoke.

"You can see that." Kiba had thought only a Hyuuga would be able to do that. For a moment he wished Hinata was with them.

"I can't," Iruka said with a shake of his head. "But that theory makes the most sense. Unless this man has some sort of _kekkei genkei_."

Kiba snorted through his nose.

"Yeah, we know how much _hebi-teme_ likes those."

Suddenly, Shino jumped backwards from his fight and landed on Kiba's other side.

"This fight is turning against my favor," Shino said blandly, like he wasn't announcing that he was losing. "Why? My allies are unable to maintain a hold on the fabric long enough to drain the chakra infused within it."

"Is that a bloodline of his?" Kiba eyed the Oto-nin warily, but the man seemed to be busy dusting the excess rubble off his clothes.

"Impossible to say," Shino snapped shortly.

Kiba realized then that this was a little worse than he had thought. Shino only got this annoyed when there was something about his opponent he couldn't figure out, especially if it affected his hive.

"We need a plan," Iruka said.

Kiba recognized the orderly tone from his days in Iruka's classroom. It was kinda hard not to feel like he automatically had to obey Iruka even though both he and Shino technically outranked the chuunin teacher.

"If you're quite finished with the regrouping—" the Oto-nin began with a malevolent step forward.

Suddenly, Kiba caught a scent that was like singed firewood and sweat and strawberry candy. Frowning, Kiba glanced up just in time to see the swirling ball of blue chakra, held suspended between two identical palms.

"_Rasengan_!"

The Oto-nin crumpled as the attack punched a hole straight through the building's flat roof. Kiba heard the crash from below that signaled the Oto-nin had landed at least a story down. Maybe he had even traveled all the way to make a crater in the ground. Kiba wouldn't mind that.

"Ha, ha! Success!" Sarutobi Konohamaru pumped both fists in the air as his clone mirrored the action.

Konohamaru's teammates, Udon and Moegi, landed suddenly beside the sixteen-year-old. Kiba smiled at the same time as he rolled his eyes. Saved by a bunch of chuunin, how pathetic was he getting?

"Konohamaru!" Iruka snapped in his displeased-teacher voice.

Kiba's grin threatened to split his face when he saw Konohamaru flinch and suddenly adopt a very contrite pose. It was good to know that Iruka's strange ability to make his former students still feel like current students was universal.

"You should know better than to jump into battle like that!" Iruka continued berating the boy. "If you're going to help, be sure your comrades know where you are."

Kiba laid one hand on Iruka's shoulder before the man could really get going on his rant.

"It's okay, Iruka-_sensei_," he said. "I could smell the kid before he attacked."

He didn't say that he had seen the Rasengan and wondered how Naruto had changed his scent again.

"The Academy students should have an escort," Shino interjected.

Iruka immediately turned from berating to concerned in a heartbeat. Kiba wondered if there was something about teachers that precluded them to sudden mood swings. Maybe that was why Naruto could shift from outright pranking (with _skunk_ scent, no less) to quietly pensive so fast.

"Right. Konohamaru."

Kiba had to grin at the way the kid's face immediately fell. He was probably hoping for something a bit more exciting than babysitting duties that were usually part of a D-rank assignment for genin teams.

Suddenly, the building the kids were standing on started shaking, like the ground was unstable. Kiba eyed the ground level of the building and saw little wisps of green chakra seeping from the cracks in the masonry, like vines growing too fast for any plant Kiba knew of.

"Hey," Kiba shouted, waving a hand quickly at the team of chuunin. "Get outa there."

Udon grabbed Moegi's arm and helped her over to the adjacent building while Konohamaru fumbled on his feet for a moment. Then, the kid who had once been as good as Naruto's apprentice pitched forward and somersaulted onto the building in front of Kiba and Shino. Iruka knelt in front of them to catch Konohamaru as the damaged building suddenly gave way and collapsed to the ground with a mighty crash. In the rubble stood the Oto-nin in his formal wear, which now looked very disheveled.

"You ripped my kimono."

The Oto-nin looked up, fixing his eyes on Kiba's group as he raised one of his long sleeves. It did look as though the excess fabric had been torn clean off. Kiba wasn't exactly sorry for the action.

"Forget eating you," growled the Oto-nin in a darker tone than Kiba quite expected. "I'm going to rip your head off."

The Oto-nin's eyes grew bright as his irises overtook his pupils. The green chakra wrapped around his body and slowly congealed into three solid appendages behind the ninja, like tails.

"The Oto-nin's talent is not a bloodline," Shino murmured without his typical pride at being proven right. "How do I know? That chakra . . . is not human."

"Yeah." Kiba's eyes were beginning to water at the heat and the force of staring at the man below them. "That's a _bijuu_."

**o0O0o**

Something outside the dark, abandoned shop crashed and boomed like thunder, but the sky was perfectly blue. Mei held her breath and hoped that it was _sensei_ coming to rescue them all.

"What was that?" Shouta whispered in her ear.

The breath tickled her and made Mei tilt her head to one side in order to rub her ear against her raised shoulder.

"We've gotta help!" cried another boy, who looked almost the same height as Kaito.

"And do what?" snapped another boy. "You're taijutsu marks are lower than Akemi's."

Mei didn't know who Akemi was, and she didn't know the names of the two boys who were fighting. Then, it didn't matter because she heard one of her friends cry out from beyond the safety of the quiet building. It sounded like Kaito had been hurt, but Mei didn't dare rush out to see if he was all right. She was supposed to be taking care of everyone until Mako and Kaito got back. She just had to wait until they got back.

"Fine," the first boy spat emphatically. "If you won't help, I'll go myself."

Mei's eyes widened as she watched the hotheaded boy spin on his heel and stomp his way toward the open door of the building where the kids were huddled.

"Wait!" Mei dropped Shouta's hand and jumped forward, holding both her palms up as if that would stop the boy in his tracks.

She was a little surprised when the boy did actually stop, even if it was only to shoot her an annoyed glare over his shoulder.

"We should have a better plan, shouldn't we?" she proposed, a little uncertain. "Mako-_kun_ and Kaito-_kun_ are really strong. _Sensei_ already taught them his chakra exercises and jutsu."

Mako had said once that he was genin, which meant that he could do everything that the students in the Shinobi Academy could do and then some. Mei didn't have the right training yet, but she had already seen how bad battles could become. Most of the kids around her and the boy who was determined to help were younger than her.

"Do you think we're so weak we can't fight?" the boy demanded, thrusting one fist in the air in a way that reminded Mei of Mako-kun.

"No." Mei quickly shook her head. "But what will you fight with?"

The boy glanced down at himself with a frown, but then Mei saw his face turn surprised as he patted down his legs as if he were searching his own pockets. He didn't have the little pouch that Naruto-_sensei_ had given both Mako and Kaito to hold their weapons when they fought. When he glanced back up, the boy looked more lost than determined.

"Um." Another boy, one who looked a little younger, stepped forward with a bundle of cloth in his hands. "I brought my holster along, when Iruka-_sensei_ said we were evacuating."

"I got mine, too!" a girl's voice piped up.

"And mine."

Mei glanced at the last boy who had spoken. His hair was the same light brown as _sensei_'s disguise, only the boy's hair stuck up all over the place.

"We can help, right, Daisuke-_kun_?" continued the young boy.

The boy named Daisuke-_kun_ glanced over all those who had stepped forward with their own contributions. Mei thought Daisuke-_kun_ looked a little bit like Mako-_kun_ with the gaze on his face like he was planning a brand new way to trick Naruto-_sensei_. Finally, Daisuke nodded.

"Okay, everyone in the graduating class, over here." He gestured vaguely to a spot beside him as if he were drawing a line on the wooden floor. "How many holsters do we have?"

The students around Daisuke brought out their supplies as Mei watched. Then, she felt a small hand curl around her own. Mei looked down and saw Shouta, the young boy who had held so tightly to Mako's hand. Mei tried to smile at him, telling him that everything would be all right. Maybe it was good that so many kids wanted to help Mako and Kaito. They would all fight together and protect each other, and Mako and Kaito would return safely.

"Okay, we have plenty of weapons, but has anyone here scored more than seventy percent on the target exam?" Daisuke demanded of the students around him.

Most of the students shifted guiltily while looking down at their feet. Mei noticed that a lot of the kids were younger than Daisuke-_kun_. Mostly her own age.

"Give the shuriken to me," the boy who had insulted Daisuke ordered. "With my eyes, I'm the best at target practice."

Mei noticed the boy's eyes looked pearly white, like he was blind even though he was looking at Daisuke clearly. The new boy approached the group of planning students and held out one hand. Daisuke complied easily, the metal jangling together as he passed over two bundles of cloth with the thin straps that would wrap around the boy's leg.

"Okay." Daisuke nodded again once the blind-looking boy had the holsters strapped on to either leg. "You be the long range support, Hotaka."

"You'll be the close combat then," agreed Hotaka.

"Mako's the one who knows _Douton_ jutsu," Mei interjected, so they would know which one was which. "Kaito has dark hair, and he's shorter than Mako."

Daisuke frowned at Mei curiously then nodded.

"Good to know."

**o0O0o**

Samui clasped her _tanto_ in her right hand and found herself wishing for her brother, Atsui.

"Samui-_senpai_," Karui whispered from Samui's right side. "What is that?"

The figure in question was a young man — a mere boy, really — with skin so pale that it almost looked gray. The boy stood in the center of the main road of Konoha with the double doors that made up the gate looming behind him. Samui had simply been walking down the road toward the Hokage Tower with her teammates when she ground shook and strange creatures with Oto _hitai-ate_ began to pour forth from the center of the village.

"If this is what Konoha was fighting against, we shoulda stayed in Kumo," muttered Omoi.

Samui knew Omoi well enough to know that he didn't actually regret coming with Raiden-_sama_ to Konoha. The young man admired the masked ninja too much to regret pledging his help to him. For that matter, Samui herself could respect Raiden-_sama_, not only due to the help he gave Kirabi-_sama_, but also for refusing to accept any sort of reward from Ei-_sama_ afterwards.

Samui thought that was very cool of Raiden-_sama_.

Omoi reached behind his back and laid one hand on the handle of his sword as he stared at the boy in the road. He almost looked as if he were pondering whether or not to draw his weapon. Karui likewise took out her long sword and held the handle close to her chin while her free hand crossed her right at the wrist, the first two fingers extended in a controlled stance.

"Your life may be spared if you choose to retreat now," Samui called ahead to the pale boy.

"Inashita do not retreat," the boy answered blankly.

Samui wondered if Inashita was the name of a clan or high family within Otogakure or if it was just the boy's strange way of referring to himself. Samui didn't pay any more attention to it as she signaled her teammates with her free hand. Omoi and Karui both nodded, and Samui charged.

Karui was the first to reach the boy, slashing her straight sword forward.

"_Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri_."

Inashita merely leaned back to dodge Karui's blade, only to have Omoi at his back. With his sword sheathed at his back, Omoi's hands were free to run through a length of hand seals. Samui saw the stone well near the line of buildings behind Omoi and moved out of the way.

"_Suiryuudan no Jutsu_," cried Omoi as he shot his hands toward his enemy.

A wall of water emerged from the well behind him and quickly merged and formed itself into the head of a dragon looming high over Omoi's head. The water dragon streamed down and crashed into Inashita, slamming the Oto-nin into the building on the other side of the street and punching a hole through the wooden wall.

Karui stepped up in the space left vacated by Inashita's hit.

"_Raiton: Kangekiha_," she yelled as a bolt of lightning extended from her hand.

The lightning traced the water's path, channeling itself along the conductor until it reached the soaked Inashita at the end. The boy seized up with the force of electrocution and froze while the lightning rippled along his body.

Samui took the opportunity to line up her team. They formed a triangle around Inashita with herself, Karui, and Omoi forming the points. At Samui's signal, all three of them ran through a familiar set of hand seals in perfect synchronization.

"_Kaminari Shibari_."

Samui was the one to call out the name of the jutsu as a wall of electricity stretched on either side of her, one toward Omoi and one toward Karui. A third wall formed between Omoi and Karui, creating a pyramid that encased Inashita inside a prison of _Raiton_.

Within the prison, Inashita slowly roused himself, stretching in the careful way Samui was familiar with from her own practice and early failure at a new Lightning technique. After getting shocked, whether by an opponent or by one's own ineptness at _Raiton_, it took some time for the body to recover from the havoc electricity played on the nerves. Inashita seemed to recover quickly, though, and he stared coldly at Samui in her position guarding the prison.

"We have been charged with Konoha's safety," Samui informed him. "You should have retreated."

Suddenly, Samui felt a sting across her back, as if someone had snapped a whip over his shoulders. For a moment, she saw nothing but white, and her arms curled into herself in an instinctively protective gesture. When Samui was able to open her eyes again, she saw Karui standing next to her with one arm wrapped around her superior's shoulders. The trifecture of the barrier had been broken, then. Samui pushed herself to her feet as she looked up at the escaped prisoner. Inashita now stood on the roof of a building opposite the wide road, perched just on the edge. A figure almost the same size and shape stood beside him, and Inashita was quick to turn to the newcomer and incline his head ever so slightly.

"Thank you, _nii-san_." Inashita's voice was calm, almost blank.

"You should be more careful, _nii-chan_," the second figure responded in the same tone.

Samui noticed that the pair of young men looked remarkably similar. It wasn't just their posture and height that was the same, she realized. The two figures had the same shade hair, the same pallid skin, and the same narrow eyes. With the way they called each other "brother," Samui guessed they were twins rather than brothers with definite protective roles established.

Then, Samui watched, both horrified and fascinated, as a long green whip of visible chakra extended from the second Inashita twin, the one who had staged the rescue. Samui clasped Karui's arm suddenly and tightly to signal her, and Karui leaped out of the way just as the line of chakra snapped forward like a whip, cutting a deep gash in the ground where the two Kumo kunoichi had been standing.

Karui landed in a crouch on top of a wooden building with one arm around Samui. The Kumo team leader made no move to shrug Karui's arm off, knowing there was strength in comrades that would benefit her. Omoi stood with his _dao_ drawn, perched atop a rare slanted roof with tiles decorating it. There were at least two streets separating them from the Inashita twins. Now, both young men had the same poisonous green chakra sprouting from their limbs. It formed thin appendages that extended from the pair of shinobi and filled the air with the stench of something burning.

"What the hell is that?" Karui hissed in Samui's ear.

Omoi studied this new ability from the Oto-nin thoughtfully; although Samui rarely saw Omoi look quite this serious when confronted with a question he wanted to ponder.

"They feel like . . ."

Omoi didn't finish his sentence, but Samui had a feeling she already knew what Omoi had realized. The chakra stretching from the two Inashita twins felt malignant and oppressive, much like the chakra that enveloped Kirabi-_sama_ when he called upon the _Hachibi_.

"This is what Raiden-_sama_ was telling the Hokage about," Samui informed her team. "They have the chakra of a _bijuu_."

**o0O0o**

_ It is raining._

_ He is on his knees in the mud and looks up to see a tall figure in dark clothes. Dark hair is plastered to his head, and he holds within his hands three metal senbon. A blond young man and a pink-haired girl are bound and resting on their knees on either side of the ominous figure. Sasuke blinks_

_ He rises to go to the man and woman but finds he cannot move. He is resting on his back with his arms at his side, held down by some invisible force._

_ The man standing in the rain grins a wide, toothy smile and flings his weapons to one side of him. Three metal needles embed themselves into the thin skin on the young woman's neck. As she falls, the man turns to his other side and pulls up the blond young man to stand in front of him._

_ Sasuke swears and struggles against the invisible force that holds him down._

_ "I'll rip your eyes out," he threatens his unseen enemy._

_ The pressure against his chest only increases. For a moment he cannot breath._

_ The blond man smiles at him. The smile is nothing like the one Sasuke can picture with his eyes closed. This one is soft and kind and protective and proud—_

_ And then the evil man slices a kunai across the blond's throat, and the smile disappears in a wash of red. His friend falls, boneless, to the ground. Sasuke can see his blood diluted in the rain. The evil man grins at Sasuke, triumphant._

_ "You killed them," he states to the man hovering over the cold bodies. _

_ The world is gray in the rain, but his enemy throws his head back and laughs._

_ "They were my family. You killed them."_

_ Sasuke tries to rise and take his vengeance, but something weighs on his chest. He cannot see for the rain in his eyes, and he cannot move for the invisible force that ties him to the ground._

_ "I'll kill you for that, Morishima," he vows._

_ He hears wet footsteps in the rain. Frozen, he can only look up as the man stands over him with an insane grin and a metal needle. This needle is threaded with black wire, like fishing line. Noboru bends down and guides the needle and thread into Sasuke's side, sewing his left side stitch by stitch._

_ The rain falls into Sasuke's eyes, but now it is red and thick. His tears are blood dropping to the ground, and Sasuke can see nothing past the red film in his eyes. The red fades and darkens to black, and he is blind._

Sasuke cried out and tried to sit up, surprised when he found no resistance.

"Sasuke!"

A hand against his shoulder pushed him back despite his need for movement. Sasuke blinked hard then raised a hand to rub the heel of his hand into his eye. The nerves at his temples were throbbing, and the backs of his eyelids were over laid with red spots, like he had spent too much time staring at the sun.

"What happened?" he asked, mostly to himself.

"Noboru poisoned you with some kind of psychosis hallucinogen," answered Sakura.

Right. Sasuke could remember that. He had been blind when he was fighting Noboru. Or had he been paralyzed? Suddenly, Sasuke's mind registered who was addressing him, and his eyes snapped to the pink-haired figure beside his bed. Sakura was alive.

He hadn't been lying in the rain watching Morishima kill off his former teammates. He had been fighting Morishima near the gate, infected with something that had made his vision twist into something unrecognizable. He had killed Orochimaru's pet without even relying on his eyes. Sasuke felt a brief shudder of triumph straighten his spine at the thought.

"Where's Naruto?" he demanded.

Sasuke didn't really believe that his dream was anything more than a hallucination brought on by whatever poison Noboru had introduced to his system. Still, he needed to know that Naruto wasn't in any immediate danger.

Sakura's gaze shifted slightly to one side before she answered.

"He's fighting outside the village," Sakura finally replied.

Sasuke narrowed his eyes at the nondescript answer.

"I was outside the village." And he hadn't seen Naruto at all. A niggling thought crowed that Sasuke hadn't been able to see much of anything at the time, but Sasuke pushed that away ruthlessly.

"Naruto was the one who knew you were in danger." Sakura faced him fully now, huffing the way she did when she was exasperated with a patient. "He brought you here."

"Then why is he fighting outside Konoha again?"

Sasuke was sure that he had killed Noboru himself. Naruto could, he supposed, be wrapping up outside the gate, finishing off the deformed Oto forces that were left after Noboru's death. With Naruto's unique talent of turning himself into his own army, he was predisposed to be the best to send into a situation where anyone else would be outnumbered.

"Because that's where Orochimaru is," Sakura muttered as she pressed a cool palm against Sasuke's forehead.

Sasuke jerked against the hand on his head, not because of the sudden surge of cool chakra dripping down his head like water but because of Sakura's words.

"Orochimaru's here?"

Sasuke pushed her hand off his forehead and tried to swing his legs over the edge of the bed. But then he felt a thousand needles jab into his left leg, beginning in the center of his calf muscle and continuing up his leg. It felt like his muscles had fallen asleep after sitting for too long in one position. Sasuke cringed at the sensation and allowed Sakura to push him back to sit on the bed.

"Don't move!" she commanded angrily. "I'm still working on the antidote for your leg."

Apparently satisfied her disobedient patient had learned his lesson, Sakura turned back to a metal tray that rested on the only table in the room. The tray contained several tube-like needles, as opposed to Noboru's porous senbon, as well as two glass vials: one filled with a thick blue substance and the other colored a phosphorus green.

"Noboru gave you some kind of nerve-paralyzing chemical," Sakura muttered as she held up the green vial. "If you move too much, the poison will spread before I have a chance to combat it."

Sasuke scowled at his own weakness, but he remained still. He wasn't stupid enough to work against his own body. Not to mention what Sakura would do to him if he tried to escape before she deemed him ready. Sakura glanced over at Sasuke, and he hoped she wasn't about to do anything embarrassing.

"Don't worry about Naruto," murmured Sakura. "He'll be fine."

Sasuke frowned that much harder just in spite of his own perfectly readable emotions.

"He's an idiot," Sasuke spat.

Who else but an idiot would save a friend so many times without demanding _anything_ in return? Sasuke hated that he was in Naruto's debt so much. How many times did the _dobe_ have to drag him back to the village only to disappear once Sasuke awoke in Konoha's hospital?

"I think he would say that he's a fool," Sakura corrected him. "He teaches his kids that, y'know."

Sasuke dared to look at her again. Sakura's eyes and concentration were on the poison in front of her, but Sasuke didn't doubt that she knew what she was saying. Sasuke himself had never thought much of the distinction between a fool and an idiot. Either way, it meant someone was not grounded in reality, and Sasuke thought both definitions applied to Naruto at times.

Except now Naruto was able to disguise himself in such a way that Sasuke hadn't recognized him at all when Naruto had been Raiden and only Raiden. What quirks of Raiden's character that had reminded Sasuke of Naruto had only been hated and disregarded. Naruto had students now, children that he was responsible for, and he took his duties to them very seriously. Naruto had even come up with very strong jutsu, one of which had allowed him to trick the entire village of Konoha. With one exception.

Suddenly, the door to Sasuke's hospital room burst open. Sasuke looked up and frowned at the thin, dark young man in the doorway. He had never seen Danzo's former agent so thoroughly disheveled before.

"Sai?" Sakura was the first to call out to him. "What's wrong? I thought you were going with Naruto."

Suddenly, Sai's presence was much more interesting to Sasuke. He braced his hands on either side of his legs as he perched on the edge of the bed and gripped the sheets tightly.

Sai opened his mouth as if he would speak but then stopped as if the wind had been sucked out of his very lungs. He curled his own hand around his throat and dragged his fingers across his windpipe as if he were trying to claw the words out of his silent throat.

"What the hell is wrong with you?" Sasuke frowned, unsure if Sai was having a fit or just trying to be funny. Sasuke thought it very inappropriate.

"Is it something about Danzo?" Sakura interjected, her voice laced with panic. "Something you can't say?"

As Sai nodded, Sasuke instantly straightened. Only his tight grip on the bedcovers prevented him from vaulting across the room, grabbing Sai by the treacherous throat, and shaking an answer out of him.

"What happened?" he demanded instead. "What did he do?"

Sai tried several times to begin his explanation, only to cut himself off in the same manner each time. He never got more than a breath out before he choked on his own air. Sasuke wondered if punching the young man in the gut would force any words out.

Finally, Sai opened his mouth wide and stuck out his tongue from his mouth. Sasuke saw the dark mark on the back of Sai's tongue and almost grimaced.

"Danzo?" Sakura's hand flew to her mouth as she gasped. "What did he do to the seal?"

Sakura rushed forward, grabbing a small light to shine down Sai's throat. Piecing things together, Sasuke reflected on how little he knew because of Sai's apparent inability to speak. Danzo had done something, perhaps taking away Sai's voice in the process. He almost wasn't surprised at the apparent willingness Danzo had to cripple his own ninja.

When Sakura cupped her hand under Sai's chin to hold him steady as she conducted her examination, Sai roughly pushed her hands away.

"What are you doing?" Sakura demanded, which Sasuke found strange, as Sai couldn't answer her anyway. "Let me see—"

Sai's mouth stretched into a grin so wide that it looked unnatural on him. But Sai just crinkled his eyes so they were almost closed and used his forefingers of each hand to point to the corners of his mouth, as if demonstrating how wide he could smile. Sasuke raised his eyebrows worriedly. He would never admit to being concerned for Sai — they certainly had no love for each other — but it was looking more and more like Danzo's seal was affecting Sai's mind.

Then, Sai's two fingers left the corners of his mouth and traced three invisible lines on his cheeks. Sasuke's grip on the bed grew so tightly that the sheets almost grew hot beneath his palms.

"What about Naruto?"

Sai didn't even open his mouth to answer. He only cupped his palms one over the other and brought his hands up to his neck as if he would strangle himself. Sai let his tongue hang out of his open mouth and rolled his eyes back in his head in a morbid parody of a man gasping for air. If Sai was supposed to be Naruto, he looked like he was either dead or dying. Danzo had done something to Naruto and then prevented Sai from even speaking about it.

Sasuke pushed himself to his feet and clenched his fists into tight balls.

"Sasuke, wait!" cried Sakura.

He ignored her. The pins-and-needles sensation in his left leg was easy to dismiss, especially if he considered it no more serious than his muscles going numb. Sasuke had much more important things on his mind.

"I'm going to kill him," he declared.

"You can't!" Sakura jumped forward to catch his arm, but Sasuke quickly shook her off. "Sasuke—"

Sasuke spun in his place, ignoring the stab that told him his leg wouldn't support his weight, and glowered at the _iryou-nin_.

"I've been a traitor to Konoha before," he reminded her. "I _will_ do it again."

He could imagine that being her argument against his actions, much like Naruto wanted him to avoid facing Danzo for his own safety. Sasuke was sick of being protected. He started resolutely for the door, only to face Sai, who was planted firmly in Sasuke's way and showed no signs of cowering before the Uchiha's wrath.

"No!" Sakura used the opportunity to latch onto Sasuke's arm again. "Do you know what the council would do to you? You escaped last time because the only ones you killed were enemies of Konoha. This is—"

"Danzo _is_ an enemy of Konoha," retorted Sasuke. "He never saw Naruto as anything but a weapon that he grabbed as soon as he could."

Sasuke didn't doubt Danzo's intentions from the first time he had heard Naruto complaining of a failed mission in Sasuke's house. Naruto, whose greatest goal had once been to return a friend home, was now taking missions that he hated. Sasuke could _see_ Naruto's reluctance every time the blond mentioned Asahi.

"Naruto never wanted that," Sasuke murmured, remembering a conversation long, long ago in front of an enemy's gravestone. "He always made his own nindo."

Both Sai and Sakura were silent at that, and Sasuke took his cue. He made to brush past Sai, hiding his wince when he stepped forward on his left leg.

"Wait, Sasuke!"

Sasuke turned with a frown, ready to spit out some claim that Sakura didn't care about what Danzo was doing to Naruto. But then he saw the needle in her hand.

"If you lose your leg, you won't be any help." She held out her free hand expectantly. "Here."

Slightly surprised at the sudden change in moods, Sasuke held out his left arm, palm up. Sakura grabbed his wrist and held it firmly with the inside of Sasuke's forearm facing up. She raised the needle to the joint of his elbow, and Sasuke curled his hand into a fist without being asked. He felt the pinch of the needle being inserted into his vein even as he watched, somewhat detached about what was happening to his own body. Silently, Sakura withdrew the needle once it was empty and released Sasuke's arm.

"You will come directly back to the hospital so I can check that leg." Sakura thrust her forefinger in Sasuke's face before he could move. "With your antibodies still fighting against the venom, you should be resting."

Sasuke grimaced and turned away from Sakura deliberately.

"I'll rest when I'm dead," he said coldly.

Sakura made no reply, so Sasuke didn't look back as he exited the room and headed down the chaotic hallway. Sakura _was_ right about his body needing recovery time, much to Sasuke's disappointment. But that didn't change what he had to do. He would give his body the time it took him to walk to the open roof of the hospital. Once there, he could easily travel via rooftop across the village. It wouldn't be too hard to find Naruto. He'd just look for the area where it seemed an idiot could get into the most trouble.

**o0O0o**

"Get up, _bakemono_."

Kaito drew in a sharp breath through the stitch in his right side that was making it hard for him to breathe.

"I _never_ belonged to _hebi-teme_," he spat at the boy in the stocking cap.

Akio looked back down at Kaito and shrugged carelessly.

"Then you're a fool, and we get to kill you," the Oto-genin declared.

For all his words, Akio made no move against Kaito, allowing the dark-haired boy to crawl to his feet and press his hand into his side in an attempt to ease the cramp he had. It was harder than he thought it would be, fighting this one guy. Mako was still holding off both Yuuta and Hikaru, the other two genin in the Oto three-man team, but Kaito was nearly exhausted just from clashing with Akio with taijutsu only.

Naruto-_sensei_ had said that it would take some time for Kaito to recover even with that stupid seal off him. The way _sensei_ had explained it, Kaito's body was used to having the crazed strength that the seal provided, so Kaito's own body was a bit weaker than it should have been. Kaito needed to build up his chakra by himself instead of being so scared that the seal would overtake him and drive him mad.

All well and good, and Kaito wasn't in the least afraid of hard work. But he hadn't had any time to get stronger before this battle. And now he was struggling against a stupid genin while Mako was using a kunai to block Yuuta's _wakazashi_ and trying to run through hand seals at the same time for an earthen wall to keep Hikaru separated from everyone else.

Kaito turned his attention back to his opponent just in time to catch Akio's fist in his stomach. The force of the blow drove Kaito backwards, slamming him against the edge of the roof they stood on. Kaito shot out a hand when his back hit the lip of concrete that was the only thing settled between him and a short plummet to the ground two stories below him. For a moment, Kaito couldn't draw in any oxygen, but it hurt too much to hold his breath. Panting, Kaito looked up through the stars that dotted his vision and saw Akio striding confidently toward him.

"See ya later, _baka_," called Akio.

Kaito tried to force his fingers around the handle of a kunai in his pouch, but his hand was numb and clumsy, like he had stayed out in the cold for too long and his fingers weren't warm enough to work. He saw the heavy kunai that Akio flicked at him, but he didn't have anything to block it with. Kaito heaved a deep breath into his lungs and tried to ignore the stabbing pain that shot through his chest as a result. He had to move, and move quickly before he died over something stupid like a genin of Orochimaru that was stronger than him.

Suddenly, Kaito heard a clang of metal on metal. A shuriken sailed from Kaito's right side and knocked the kunai straight out of the air before it could pierce his chest. Kaito almost yelled out his thanks to Mako before he realized that Mako was still at his left, battling between Yuuta's sword and Hikaru's scythe of Fuuton. Kaito quickly turned his head to the left and saw a pale boy with dark hair standing on the roof of the adjacent building. He had a holster of each of his legs, and there were strange veins around his eyes that stretched almost to his temples. They looked a bit like Yoshi's eyes, the boy that Kaito and Mako had met with yesterday.

Akio scowled at the new interruption, but suddenly he turned around and presented his back to Kaito.

"Hey, lay off him!" shouted a new voice.

Kaito pushed himself up slowly, pausing over his knees to catch his breath while he could. In addition to the kid with all the weapons, there was now another addition to the rooftop chaos. A kid about the same height as Kaito stood on the opposite side of the roof. Kaito watched wide-eyed as Akio shifted his attention firmly to the new addition to the fight. Planting his palms firmly on the concrete of the building, Kaito pushed himself to his knees. He heard the clang of battle ringing in his ears; or that might just have been his ears ringing. But Kaito shook his head vigorously to clear it out and lurched to his feet. He had to stay still for a moment to make sure he wouldn't faint, but then he dared to look up. He was just in time to see Akio give an almighty leap from his position in front of the new kid to land on the nearby building, where the kid with Yoshi's eyes was holding up two kunai crossed in front of him.

"Hey!" The boy Kaito's height rushed up to Kaito's elbow and offered his support. "You okay?"

"Fine," Kaito gritted out, trying not to clench his teeth too hard as it was giving him a serious headache.

The boy beside Kaito looked unsure of the answer, but he didn't say anything. Kaito spared the energy to frown at the kid.

"Who're you?"

By all accounts, he _should_ be one of the students that he and Mako were trying to lead to safety, which mean that the kid really should be down on the ground with Mei and the rest of the students. The boy just perked up and somehow thrust his chest out at being asked.

"I'm Sato Daisuke," he announced proudly. "We're here to help."

Breathing was getting easier now, and Kaito tried to take in all the aspects of the battle that was going on at once. Daisuke was still hovering over him while the other student was now fending off Akio with taijutsu only, holding his two kunai like twin swords. Meanwhile, Mako was still trying to fight both Hikaru and Yuuta at the same time. Fortunately, Yuuta seemed to have lost his short sword — it looked like a _tanto_ from Kaito's point of view — and Hikaru was trapped in a sinkhole of mud. But Mako was panting. He was just as low on chakra as Kaito was in his weakened state.

"Great," hissed Kaito as his eyes turned back to Daisuke. "Help Mako."

He already knew that it wasn't fair to let a student, not even graduated, to take on Akio by himself. As much as Kaito wanted to leap in to help Mako himself, he'd have better luck against Akio as long as he teamed up with the student with Yoshi's eyes.

"What about you?" Daisuke protested. "You're hurt."

Kaito straightened immediately and whipped his hand away from where it had been pressed against the stitch in his side.

"Help Mako," he repeated. "Hikaru has Orochimaru's seal."

"What seal?" Daisuke frowned, confusion written all over his expression.

Kaito gritted his teeth in frustration. Why didn't these kids know about Orochimaru? Granted, Kaito had lived with the evil that _orochi-teme_ could do for years, but wasn't Orochimaru Konoha's enemy? Kaito just huffed and glared pointedly at Daisuke.

"It makes him stronger, and Mako already has two opponents." He hoped the glare was enough to scare Daisuke into obeying. "Help _Mako_."

Maybe it would have helped if he had a _hitai-ate_ like Mako did. Daisuke frowned at Kaito, displeased, but finally the boy sighed.

"Fine."

Kaito watched the boy launch himself toward the other side of the roof, ready with a fist to intercept Yuuta as Hikaru pulled his feet out of the mud. Kaito sucked in a breath through his teeth and turned his back on the fight. He had to trust Mako to know what he was doing. And maybe Mako would be better at getting Daisuke to obey orders. Kaito focused on the next building.

He was still low on chakra, so he would have to make the timing on this just right. Kaito stepped back twice and then ran for the edge of the roof. He leapt into the air, turning a somersault at the height of his arc so he saw the two opponents below him almost in slow motion.

"Up here, _baka_," Kaito called.

As Akio looked up, Kaito extended one leg and swung it down, heel first. Akio jerked out of the way at the same time as the Konoha boy did. Kaito landed between where they had been fighting, his heel slamming into the roof with enough force to crack the concrete.

"Darn," grumbled Kaito while the two boys were still frozen. "I've been practicing that."

Akio glared at him, but then a kunai struck his left shoulder, just below his collarbone. Akio lurched backwards and clutched his new wound while Kaito looked up and over his shoulder to see the Konoha boy with his hand still extended from throwing the kunai.

"Nice shot," Kaito admitted honestly.

"My aim is among the best in my class," said the boy with white eyes.

Kaito sized the boy up. His arms _did_ look a little skinny, like he wasn't used to physical activity. Maybe his good aim was his way of making up for it.

"I'll get you your openings, then," said Kaito. "Keep your eyes open."

Kaito lifted his heel from the cracked concrete and planted his feet under him before he charged at Akio with a war-like yell.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru stumbled backwards and caught himself before he could fall to his knee.

"This is not going well," he noted to no one in particular.

Neither of his teammates responded, but Shikamaru suspected that was more because they didn't have the breath to do so. Chouji towered above Shikamaru as he had given up the Partial Multi-Size Jutsu for a full _Baika no Jutsu_. With a swing of a meaty fist, Chouji smashed two of the Oto-nin back from the destroyed wall. As he was, Chouji was really the one member of their team most adapt at facing more than one enemy at once. But Shikamaru could see it was taking its toll on his friend. Already, Chouji looked much thinner than he should.

"Can we call for backup?" Ino said hastily from behind Shikamaru's back.

"With what?" Shikamaru muttered around the cigarette he had never put out. "Have you signed a summoning contract I don't know about?"

Technically, a summoned animal wasn't the only way to get a message into the village that Team Asuma — no way in _hell_ they were giving up that name — needed assistance. But it was one of the most convenient. Shikamaru didn't really have anything in his repertoire that was meant to act as a message carrier. Even his shadows were limited to the range of the sun and the area of the shadows around him.

Shikamaru saw a short figure with gold eyes centered around diamond-shaped pupils charge at him from his right side. Shikamaru clenched his teeth as his mind raced, trying to come up with a way to intercept him, but then a kunai sailed past his shoulder and sank into the figure's eye. Shikamaru glanced over his shoulder to see Ino withdrawing her hand again after throwing the kunai.

"Thanks," Shikamaru said. "My hands were full."

Shikamaru turned back to where his shadows had pierced through a man with gray skin. Twisting his hands into another hand seal, Shikamaru coaxed the sharpness of his shadows to cut through the man's chest, piercing his heart.

Ino didn't say anything back to Shikamaru, which was a little worrisome in and of itself. Not to have Ino nagging at him threw Shikamaru off a little. He had already noticed that she had used more kunai during the battle than she typically did. If she fell back on her family jutsu, she cast the Mind-Confusing Jutsu instead of actively infiltrating the enemy's mind, like she had been able to do since she was genin. Shikamaru didn't really blame her. After seeing the way the Oto-nin fell on each other when they were confused, he wouldn't want to be inside their heads either.

Then, suddenly, something roared from Shikamaru's left. His head snapped around so fast that he felt a connection in his neck snap, and he saw the giant, gray-skinned golem of an Oto-nin standing upright and bellowing to the high heavens. His wide mouth still dripped with watered down blood and strings of spit, but the golem seemed finished with attacking his own comrades, if the Oto-nin could be called that. Shikamaru's eyes widened as he realized that the large enemy had broken through Ino's jutsu.

Shikamaru quickly called back his shadows, but even as the still form in front of him slumped lifelessly to the ground, the new enemy charged.

"Shikamaru!"

Shikamaru heard Chouji's call and prayed his friend wasn't about to do what Shikamaru was damn sure Chouji was thinking of doing. With his most recent jutsu released, Shikamaru lurched forward and tried to run through the hand signs he needed faster than he ever had. Before he could reach the end, Chouji leaped ahead of his position and collided with the charging giant.

The Oto-nin was still smaller than Chouji in his _Baika no Jutsu _form, but Chouji had to grab the man with both hands encasing him, like a wrestling hold. And yet, the Oto-nin curled his arms at the elbows and clawed at the hold Chouji had on him. The golem-like man curled his fingers into Chouji's large hands and twisted his body sideways in what looked like a taijutsu move, only it was one Shikamaru had never seen before. Suddenly, Chouji's feet lifted off the ground and he flew, headfirst, into the ground, thrown by the weight of the Oto-nin.

"Chouji!" Ino cried desperately.

The cigarette fell from Shikamaru's damp, lifeless lips as he watched his best friend shrink to a thin shell of himself, his eyes closed as his body lay still in the crater he had made in the ground.

"Shit," Shikamaru whispered.

The Oto-nin turned his gaze toward Shikamaru and Ino and tilted his head curiously. Suddenly, Ino bolted away from Shikamaru, running almost directly toward the giant that had just taken out Chouji. Shikamaru cursed under his breath and clasped his hands together. Thin lines of dark shadows stretched out and connected themselves to the dark ground beneath the Oto-nin's feet.

Immediately, the Oto-nin froze, mirroring the position Shikamaru's body took with his fingers laced together in front of him and his stance wide to support the sudden pull he felt from the other man's weight. Shikamaru felt his left foot slide forward as the golem tried to shuffle his foot forward.

"Ino!" Shikamaru shouted through his gritted teeth. "I need help."

"Chouji's bleeding internally!" Ino shouted back.

She was kneeling beside Chouji's still body with green chakra encasing her hands. Shikamaru had a not-quite clear view of her just beyond the Oto-nin that was still fighting against Shikamaru's jutsu.

"I think the blow caused an aneurysm," continued Ino. "I can't leave him until I stop the bleeding."

Shikamaru would have cursed again if he had the breath for it. Maybe he _should_ stop smoking. He concentrated on spinning his shadows into hands that inched their way up and around the Oto-nin's body. The flat, black hands shook with the force of trying to hold the muscular body in place.

"Whenever you have time." Shikamaru clenched his grip on his fingers tighter and watched the Oto-nin take another step toward him.

Suddenly, a gust of wind sailed over Shikamaru's head, briefly rustling the tail of hair he kept bound on the crown of his head. Shikamaru could see the visible crescent wall of wind cut through the air and join another gust in a perpendicular pattern.

"_Fuuton: Kakaemi_!" cried a female voice from behind Shikamaru.

The two blades of wind headed straight for the Oto-nin that Shikamaru had captured. Seeing what was going to happen only a second before it did, Shikamaru quickly unclasped his hands and pulled his shadow hands back so they hovered about his own feet. Just as he did, the blades of wind sliced through the Oto-nin's thick skin. One effectively decapitated the golem while the other severed his right arm just below the shoulder.

As the giant's body fell to the ground, headless, two men with Suna _hitai-ate_ jumped to either side of Shikamaru and charged the remaining Oto-nin in front of the northeastern wall. One of the men had a half-veil covering the left half of his face while two purple marks stretched back from his right cheekbone. Shikamaru recognized him as Baki, a jounin that had been within the highest levels of Sunagakure's security for years.

"How many times do I have to save your butt, lazy-ass?"

Shikamaru recognized the voice even before he turned over his shoulder and looked up. Temari stood on the remnants of the wall surrounding Konoha. Her large iron fan was unfolded and poised behind her, stretching nearly as tall as she stood. She gave the scene below her a triumphant smirk, but Shikamaru suspected that was more for his sake than anything.

"What the hell took you so long, woman?" he demanded.

"Hey, Gaara only got the message from the Hokage two days ago." Temari shrugged with an air of nonchalance. "You're lucky my team was already halfway to Takigakure when he told us to come here."

Shikamaru rolled his eyes. It wasn't that he was ungrateful for Temari and her teammates for helping out, especially when he had been close to losing his strength. He just wished he had been saved by a less troublesome woman.

**o0O0o**

Danzo tightened his grip on the air in front of him, watching the wood curl around Uzumaki's neck in response. It cost him a great deal of chakra to control Senju Hashirama's cells in this manner, but he wanted to be sure Uzumaki could not move for what he had planned next. Danzo lifted his right hand and peeled back more of the bandages that covered the eye he had stolen from Uchiha Shisui. Most of the cloth was too tight to move, but Danzo could at least create a gap within the bandages so that he could _see_.

"Let me go, you damn bastard!" Uzumaki cried as he broke off the wood that encased his right hand.

This strength that Uzumaki was getting from _senjutsu_ was annoying. Impressive, but annoying.

"You understood that there would be consequences for your actions," Danzo said mildly.

Uzumaki ceased his struggling and shot Danzo a heated glare. Danzo remained unimpressed.

"You willing revealed yourself when you were supposed to be dead."

"Are you still hung up on that?" Uzumaki snapped. "Take whatever punishment you want from me later. Only let me kill Orochimaru."

"Let you?" Danzo wondered aloud.

It had never been a question of allowance with Uzumaki. Danzo walked calmly along the plank of wood to where the boy remained pinned.

"He's attacking the village, and you're wasting time trying to keep me from doing my job," Uzumaki ranted, apparently quite satisfied to remain where he was as long as he thought Danzo was listening. "Why don't you fight him yourself if you're so determined to protect Konoha?"

"I protect my village as a shinobi should," Danzo replied, slightly annoyed that the boy still didn't understand even after four years of being unknown. "From the shadows."

Uzumaki scoffed.

"I don't think _hebi-teme_ speaks your language, _yarou_."

Danzo was far above being insulted by such vulgarities, so he refrained from frowning. He only laid his right hand over Uzumaki's naked forehead and stared into violently angry eyes that looked that much stranger for their pale color.

"You are a tool." Danzo could feel the chakra behind his eye seep through the damaged pathways that led to the Sharingan. "A weapon to be utilized by the village."

He could see Uzumaki's rage building. That would only help Danzo's cause as he channeled chakra to his right eye and stared deliberately into Uzumaki's eyes.

"If you cannot fulfill your mission as you are," said Danzo, "then become a demon."

Danzo watched Uzumaki's eyes change with some degree of distant fascination. They flashed through the colors of a toad-like yellow to a florescent orange to a bleeding red. His pupils remained horizontal boxes, but then a spike grew out of the center, creating a cross-like effect when the animalistic features of the _Kyuubi_ overlapped the natural progression of Uzumaki's _senjutsu_.

This was what Danzo wanted. If Uzumaki insisted on being known by his compatriots, by the people in the village, then the village would witness the consequences. Certainly, there was a good chance of Uzumaki disposing of Orochimaru in his current state; even more so if Uzumaki's rage and the influence of the Sharingan progressed enough to create a visible cloak of chakra, complete with tails, around Uzumaki. But even if Uzumaki managed to rid Konoha of its main enemy, he would create indiscriminate destruction in his wake.

Danzo was confident that Uzumaki would be chained once the battle was over. Between the Sharingan that Orochimaru had implanted into his right eye and the abilities of that Hashirama-clone, there was no danger of Uzumaki going on a rampage in the direction of Konoha. Uzumaki would be left facing the results of what he had done, with the entire village to witness what he was. Perhaps then Danzo could make the argument he had always wanted to: The _Kyuubi_ should be forcibly removed from Uzumaki Naruto and sealed within a different host.

And if Danzo had access to that host from an early age, as he had not with Uzumaki, then maybe he would finally get his perfect weapon. One that would benefit the village as a weapon was supposed to.

* * *

A/N: How could you doubt that Danzo has a plan? Of course Danzo has a plan. And a very evil plan it is. Don't worry. Sasuke to the rescue!

Wait, haven't we been here before?

I do apologize for the lateness of this chapter. I had every intention of posting it last weekend. I blame NaNoWriMo, mostly. My novel kind of took over my brain. And I'm still not entirely happy with all the scenes. This epic battle is getting much more involved than I had anticipated.

And just wait 'til you see what happens next.

Sincerely,

Fia

_Fuuton: Kakaemi_ – Wind Release: Cast Net is a technique specific to Temari. Using her Giant Folding Fan, Temari creates multiple narrow currents of wind that form a large net of sorts. These winds are sharp enough to slice through an opponent, inflicting severe injuries to them in a criss-cross pattern.

_Fuuton: Shinkuu Gyoku_ – Wind Release: Vacuum Sphere is a Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Wind Element. After forming the needed hand seal, Danzo will inhale air and then expel numerous penetrating wind bullets.

_Raiton: Kaminari Shibari_ – A Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Lightning Element. Someone named Kitane from the anime uses this, but the concept I thought translated well for a team of three. The three points form a triangular shape around the opponent, usually armed with metal or some other conductor. These Raiton infused pieces will then create electrified fields between themselves to form a triangular shaped prison. The field can be penetrated by a more powerful Wind Element infused weapon or by compromising one of the three focal points of the prison.

_Raiton: Kangekiha_ – A Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Lightning Element. Darui uses this in the beginning chapters of the conflict that's currently going on in the manga. The ninja first creates a protective wall of water using his Suijinheki jutsu. He then forms the needed hand seal and emit a bolt of electricity into the water that will increase its defensive effectiveness and stun any targets that attempt to pass through.

_Kumo-Ryū Omotegiri_ – Cloud-Style Front Beheading: A taijutsu (kenjutsu, really) attack as opposed to ninjutsu. The user slashes forward to attack an enemy.

_Suiton: Suiryuudan no Jutsu_ – A Ninjutsu technique utilizing the Water Element. The ninja does a long string of hand seals, which then causes a column of water in the form of a dragon to rise from the water and then strike their target.


	19. In Which He Understands

Chapter 18: In Which He Understands

_No man chooses evil because it is evil; he only mistakes it for happiness, the good he seeks._

~ Mary Shelley

**o0O0o**

"Naruto!"

Danzo heard the cry, recognizing that it came from his left side, where he had no Sharingan to augment his own vision. He had barely turned to analyze the new voice when a flash of white light descended between him and Uzumaki. Swiftly, Danzo pulled back his hand and leaped back to avoid the blade sheathed within a solid form of Raiton. The Lightning-enhanced blade sliced easily through Danzo's wooden cuffs around Uzumaki's hands and feet, and Uzumaki staggered back.

"What?"

Danzo could see the way Uzumaki shook himself, literally throwing off his anger as if he were an animal shaking off water. His eyes cleared and became a light gray again instead of any strange color to reflect whatever borrowed power he had. Uchiha Sasuke stood in front of Uzumaki and held his glowing sword aloft before his eyes.

"Go," Sasuke commanded.

"Sasuke?"

Danzo gave Uzumaki a cold stare, unimpressed with his confusion. Danzo could see though the posturing easily. Uzumaki had obviously told the Uchiha he was in danger from Shimura Danzo. Uchiha, of course, wouldn't take very well to being regulated. Danzo almost supposed that this was part of Uzumaki's plan, to use Uchiha to do away with the threat hanging over him. But, no, Uzumaki was not that ruthless nor that bright. Besides, there was no certainty that Uchiha Sasuke was strong enough to kill Danzo.

"Go and find Orochimaru," Uchiha called over his shoulder without tearing his red and black eyes from Danzo. "You won't convince him."

Uzumaki hesitated, but Danzo could see him already turning toward the west. The boy was notoriously single-minded. He was almost as stubborn as Sarutobi Hiruzen himself.

"You sure as hell better not die, _teme_." Uzumaki turned his back on the face-off that remained between Uchiha and Danzo. "I still want a rematch."

"Bring it, _dobe,_" Uchiha retorted with a smirk.

His facial expression almost suggested that he was addressing Danzo rather than Uzumaki, but Uzumaki only scoffed good-naturedly. He jumped off the solid wall of wood entrenched in the middle of the forest. Landing on a thick branch, Uzumaki brought his hands together in a cross formation, and Danzo saw the toad-like eyes return. He returned his gaze to the boy in front of him as Uchiha Sasuke shifted his weight to face Shimura Danzo.

"You lost your weapon," declared Uchiha triumphantly.

The boy spoke as if he had had single-handedly ensured Danzo's downfall. Danzo, being far too mature to roll his eyes or make petty retorts, told the truth.

"The _Kyuubi jinchuuriki_ is useless as a weapon." Danzo saw the frown that embedded itself deep within Uchiha's brow beneath the _hitae-ate_ he wore. "He has already put the lives of his friends above everyone in the village. Fool."

Surprisingly, Uchiha did not react to the casual insult, but then Danzo supposed that the boy had more self-control than Uzumaki did. He certainly managed to keep himself on a very tight rein for the past four years. Despite his threats and the fact that Danzo was fully confident he could go through with them, Uchiha Sasuke had never once acted out against Konoha. At least visibly. And, with a lack of obvious proof, the village had slowly accepted him back within their folds.

Oh, the shinobi population remained suspicious of him, but they worked with him without complaint. Meanwhile the civilians had been quick to forgive Uchiha Sasuke of any perceived wrongdoings, citing his tragic history. Some civilians even remembered the Uchiha Military Police and the distinguished figures of the Uchiha Clan that was only a perceived reality because of what Uchiha Itachi had done. That boy had been willing to sacrifice his reputation, his status within the village, and his own family to keep the truth from Konoha.

Strange how Danzo could see the similarities between the two _nuke-nin_ Konoha had produced.

"Just like Itachi," he scoffed, thinking of the Yondaime's legacy.

"What?" Uchiha Sasuke snapped.

Danzo hadn't realized that Sasuke had heard him. But he supposed it didn't matter any longer. He raised his right arm and let the loose sleeve slide down to his elbow, exposing the many eyes he had procured over the years before the Uchiha Clan's downfall.

"You are unnecessary to Konoha," declared Danzo. "I tried to convince the council that the Uchiha line deserved to be wiped out. But Itachi spared you."

Sasuke's eyes sharpened and narrowed at the mention of his older brother. Danzo scowled at the deficiencies in Konoha's shinobi. They should be able to control their expressions and their emotions.

"A mistake I will not repeat."

**o0O0o**

Daisuke swung the short sword he had picked upwildly at the long-haired boy — who didn't look much like a boy at all — and missed.

"Stop doing that!" hissed the light-haired boy beside him; Daisuke was pretty sure his name was Mako.

Daisuke skidded backwards and stood beside Mako.

"Sorry." He swung the sword back and forth in front of him a couple times. "I've never used a _katana_ before."

Mako rolled his eyes, which made Daisuke want to stick out his tongue at the taller boy. Really, Daisuke couldn't be _that _much younger than Mako; probably no more than a year. Sure, the other boy had a _hitai-ate_, but Daisuke was supposed to graduate this year as well.

Daisuke eyed the form of a boy with a stocking cap lying prone on the concrete that made up the roof. Puffing up proudly, Daisuke edged toward the body. He had dispatched his first enemy in his first fight and it hadn't even been hard. Okay, so maybe Mako had done most of the work, but Daisuke had distracted the Oto guy and snagged away his sword where it had fallen. Daisuke held his pilfered sword up and thrust it toward the unconscious body.

"Give me that," Mako hissed and yanked the sword sharply from Daisuke's hands.

"Hey!"

"Stick to your kunai, kid." Mako rolled his eyes again.

A sudden hiss made Daisuke jump backwards out of reflex, but Mako spun to his left, bringing the short sword up with him. His blade sliced through the open jaw of a large, brown snake, cutting through the hinge of the snake's jaw. Daisuke saw a thin mist of blood spurt out from the snake, which was now effectively sliced in half, and he shuddered. Maybe he'd leave the slicing and such to Mako.

Daisuke peeked out from behind the taller boy at the thin, long-haired boy behind the snake. The Oto-genin smiled slyly at the two boys. Apparently, he didn't even care about the dead snake. Mako swiped at a glob of _something_ — Daisuke didn't really want to consider all the things it could be — on his cheek and glanced over his shoulder

"Okay, what jutsu do you know?" Mako muttered at Daisuke.

"Um." Daisuke peered over Mako's taller shoulder at the enemy. Lines that ran in curves and circles inched their way over the boy's chin and spread across his face.

Daisuke really wondered how a _henge_ of the Godaime Hokage was going to help him in this situation.

"That's the guy who has Orochimaru's strength?" Daisuke whispered, not entirely sure he wanted to know the answer.

A grunt from behind him made Daisuke spin around and press his back against Mako's. The other Oto-genin apparently wasn't as unconscious as Daisuke had thought. The Oto-genin was bleeding from his right shoulder and holding his right arm loosely at his side. Daisuke suspected the arm was dislocated, which should hurt a whole heck of a lot. Except the genin with the hat was just glaring at Daisuke like he wanted to kill him.

"_Shimatta_," growled Mako.

Daisuke dared to look over his shoulder at Mako. The older boy was frowning, but he looked resolute, like Daisuke had never seen on his classmates. This was way more serious than just a rivalry in practice taijutsu. Daisuke swallowed nervously while Mako adjusted his grip on the sword in his hands.

"Focus on Yuuta," Mako ordered. "I'll help you as soon as I beat this _baka_."

Daisuke nodded hesitantly as his thoughts raced. Out of the two enemies, he thought he really would prefer fighting against the one who was already disabled. If that other guy had a kind of strength that came from Orochimaru, who knew what Daisuke would be able to do against him?

"Okay," Daisuke said with a nod.

"You'll beat me?"

That voice was new, and Daisuke looked behind him, craning his neck around Mako. The boy with long hair was grinning at Mako, and it wasn't exactly a _nice_ grin.

"The last time I met you, didn't I leave you for dead on the ground?"

"Yeah, just like you did your teammates," Mako spat back.

Okay, Daisuke quickly decided that he had had enough of that conversation. He pulled a kunai from the pouch on his leg. The pouch was relatively empty compared to how much it could hold; Daisuke had given most of his weapons to Hotaka. When Daisuke looked up again, he saw the Oto-nin, Yuuta, grab his dangling right arm by the wrist. Daisuke felt his face crinkle in distaste as Yuuta pulled his useless arm slowly away from his body at his side, eventually supporting it by the elbow. Then he gave his arm a violent jerk, and Daisuke heard something pop. He flinched violently, more from the shudder of pain that passed through Yuuta's body than anything.

"Okay," he muttered. "That was gross."

Yuuta only twisted his lips until they looked more like they were sneering than grimacing in pain.

"You're going down, little Leaf," Yuuta growled.

The taller Oto-nin charged suddenly. Daisuke panicked and threw the kunai in his hand. He could tell as soon as the weapon left his fingers that the shot had gone wide. His accuracy marks really did suck. Having no other option, Daisuke dove to his left, ducking down to perform a somersault in his haste to get away. There had to be a better way to do this.

Daisuke's eyes widened in panic as Yuuta ran through a series of hand signs that Daisuke didn't recognize. Then, Yuuta stretched out his hands toward Daisuke.

"_Kyūketsukō_." Yuuta's mouth smiled as he called out the name of his technique.

Daisuke clapped his hands together frantically and tried to think of the only way he could distract Yuuta.

"_Bunshin no Jutsu_." The words fell hurriedly out of Daisuke's mouth as an exact replica of himself popped up beside him.

Daisuke thought he saw Yuuta frown for a moment, but then the expression was gone, and the strangely purple threads that extended from Yuuta's fingers spread out to attack both Daisuke and his clone. Daisuke left his clone to take the brunt of the attack as he ducked behind the empty chakra shape and dodged. He heard a soft _pop_ behind him and knew his distraction hadn't lasted that long.

"A clone?" scoffed Yuuta. "That's really the best you can do?"

Daisuke straightened from his crouch and glared at the older boy.

"Shut up," he hissed. He couldn't really say anything else because it _was_ the best he could do. It wasn't like he knew many other jutsu.

Daisuke's hand dove into his weapons pouch again, only to brush against empty fabric. He glanced down to his side, where he could see his fingers grasping under the cloth for something that wasn't there. He was out of weapons already? Daisuke looked up. There were at least five of his kunai embedded into or laying flat on the roof. None of them had done any damage to Yuuta at all.

Yuuta charged again, and Daisuke panicked. He brought his hands together again and thought of the only other jutsu he knew. But what was he supposed to switch with? There wasn't an abundance of tree branches or wood in the middle of Konoha. Daisuke felt around with his chakra and pulled.

"_Kawarimi no Jutsu_."

Daisuke suddenly found himself standing behind Yuuta. He spun around to face his enemy again, but then he heard a sharp, pained cry from the Oto-genin. Yuuta turned around slowly, a kunai embedded in his stomach.

"You bastard," Yuuta gargled as he clutched his stomach.

Daisuke almost looked to see where Hotaka had popped out from before he realized what he had done. Without any wood to trade places with, Daisuke had traded places with one of his many discarded kunai, and Yuuta had run straight into it instead of Daisuke.

Daisuke straightened his shoulders and ignored the shudder that wanted to escape his chest as Yuuta yanked the kunai from his stomach and fisted his hand against the wound. Maybe he could do this after all.

**o0O0o**

The plume of smoke from the south was dissipating slowly. Kakashi had been confident enough in the ANBU team's securing the underground tunnel that he had left the scene shortly after Naruto had, staying just long enough to instruct a team of three chuunin to work on evacuating civilians from the damaged buildings and secure the area.

Kakashi leapt onto a building a bit further to the south to gain some perspective. What had been a tower of smoke to the south of Konoha's main gate had diminished into a wisp of white smoke that looked more like the remnants of a campfire than a marking of an invasion. But it was one of the few places that showed any evidence of Konoha making progress. Kakashi could sense — and hear to an extent — vague sounds of battle coming from the northeast. More immediate, though, was the scene to the south.

Kakashi could just make out two figures standing on the roof of a building that seemed like a simple house. The two figures looked extremely similar, almost to the point that Kakashi thought they were simply clones of each other, like Naruto's _Kage Tensei_. But then his Sharingan eye saw the wisps of green chakra that lashed around the two figures like whips. It looked like what Naruto had described as the fake-_jinchuuriki_ in Orochimaru cave.

Without another thought, Kakashi tore in the direction of the south. He saw the Kumo jounin, Samui, standing on a roof just across from the two fake-_jinchuuriki_. One of the other Kumo-nin, the kunoichi, supporter her as Samui tried obviously to keep weight off her left foot. He could see one of the _jinchuuriki_ gearing up for . . . something, although exactly what he was doing was up for debate. Kakashi ran through a series of hand signs anyway and gave one more almighty leap. He landed on the street between the two pairs of ninja and slammed his palms against the packed ground.

"_Doton: Doryuu Heki_."

The wall sprang into existence just as a wave of water slammed down from the roof of the west building. Kakashi could feel the shockwave of the blow through the earth as the barrier shuddered but held. Glancing over his shoulder, Kakashi met the eyes of Samui.

"Are you all right?" he asked with a glance down towards her feet.

"It's just a scratch."

Samui straightened a bit, taking most of her weight off of Karui beside her. Kakashi trained his Sharingan eye on the wound on the back of her leg. He had seen a wound like that before, when Sakura and Naruto had returned from a mission with Tenzou. Sakura had sported three deep scratches in her upper arm that were red and blistering despite the field treatment she had given herself and the time between her treatment and when Kakashi had seen the still-raw wound. Naruto had hung his head and refused to talk to Sakura for the rest of the day.

The chakra of a _bijuu_ was poisonous to humans, even to those who hosted the _bijuu_.

The Kumo ninja, Omoi, jumped down suddenly to duck behind the wall with the rest of his team. Kakashi looked up in time to see a whip of green chakra follow after the young man, clipping a large chunk off the top of Kakashi's earthen wall.

"Stop being so slow, idiot," Karui snapped at her partner.

Omoi glared at her, but Kakashi recognized the stress that came from fear of loss. It colored Karui's voice just like it had colored Sakura's early that morning.

"Enough," Samui snapped with authority. She nodded up to the similar figures on the roof. "We need to deal with those two."

Kakashi accepted her compliance for now, knowing she would have to get treatment soon. But for now, the fake-_jinchuuriki_ posed more of a threat than a slow poisoning that could eventually be corrected.

"We think these are the ones Raiden was talking about from his encounter with Orochimaru," Omoi added in Kakashi's direction. "They have a strange chakra."

"I heard." Kakashi nodded.

Naruto's description of the two in Orochimaru's lair had come in late-night discussions about seals and chakra in Sasuke's house. Strangely enough, the discussion was also peppered with advice Naruto had gotten from toads and one old man who had once led Naruto on a lengthy discussion on poetry and _haiku_.

"With that chakra wrapped around them, we can't even touch them like this." Karui glared up at the top of the wall as if her anger could pierce through the earth and literally stab the two Oto-nin to death.

"There's a way around that." Kakashi deftly held up a small square of paper between his first two fingers.

"Seals?" Samui asked, her tone alone prompting a better explanation.

Kakashi dug into the weapons holster and withdrew the larger stack of papers that Naruto had given him. With the Kumo team hunkered down around him, it was easy to hand over an example of one of the seals to Samui slowly enough so that her teammates could get a good look at it.

"These should cut off the _bijuu_ chakra long enough to subdue them," he explained. "I'm not sure of their length, though."

Normally, Kakashi wouldn't have said anything about a possible defect in one of his weapons, even to an ally. But this was something the Kumo team needed to know if they were going to be fighting against these fake-_jinchuuriki _things. Kakashi didn't doubt that Naruto would have found a way to deal with that particular twinge in the seal if only he had been given a bit more time, but he wasn't going to complain.

Samui studied the paper in her hand as Karui looked over her leader's shoulder auspiciously.

"You didn't make these?" Samui shot a suddenly suspicious look at Kakashi.

The question was valid, especially given the vague way he had explained the seal's drawback. _Fuuinjutsu_ was a delicate art, and generally a seal creator would know more specifically what the limits of his seal were. Still, Kakashi couldn't help the proud smile that spread beneath his mask.

"Raiden did," he announced. "He's very handy with ink and paper."

Kakashi was surprised how hard it was to keep himself from saying more than that. He had already known that Naruto made a good _sensei; _he had known that as soon as he saw how devoted the man called Raiden was to his students, he just hadn't known it was Naruto yet. Then he got to see a little bit of how much his student had grown when Naruto had explained his newest jutsu, both his own _Kage Tensei_ and the new version of the _Rasengan _that only Naruto could do.

"All right."

Samui's no-nonsense tone summoned Kakashi's attention back to his position huddled behind an earth wall, waiting for a plan so he and his allies could go into battle without the fear of getting killed. Samui held out her hand in an obvious demand for more of the seals that Kakashi held.

"Karui, Omoi, see how close you can get to those two," ordered Samui.

Kakashi obligingly held out nearly all of his supply of seals to the two Kumo-nin.

"Don't get burned." Kakashi was in no doubt that whatever chakra Orochimaru had used to create his newest monsters was not meant for human touch.

"Right." Omoi nodded thoughtfully.

The two younger shinobi took off with a quick leap that brought them outside the safety of Kakashi's wall. Kakashi pinched his fingers a little tighter around the remaining few seals in his grasp. He could feel the paper crinkle with the pressure as his one open eye followed the young man from Kumo. Sasuke had once intimated how close Raiden was to the team that had trained under Kirabi, the host for the _Hachibi_. Not that Kakashi was incredibly surprised; Naruto had apparently retained his talent for making friends wherever he went. Even when he was masked.

Samui's eyes stayed resolutely off her teammates as she turned to Kakashi.

"How are you at long-distance attacks, Hatake?" she questioned with all the air of a commander.

Kakashi pinned his eye on her even as the Sharingan picked up on the details of the ruined building behind her.

"What did you have in mind?"

**o0O0o**

Orochimaru stood confidently on the top of Manda's head and surveyed the area. He wasn't close enough to Konoha to much damage, even with Manda's girth, but he was planning on that later. First and foremost, he had to meet someone.

A sly smile spread across Orochimaru's face as he felt the chakra signature approaching. The figure outlined in a short red coat trimmed with black paused on the very top of a large tree in front of Manda. The branch he balanced on could barely support the grown man, forcing him to wrap one hand around the thin point of the trunk. The red and white mask was missing from the man's typical ensemble, revealing a youthful face with light brown hair cropped close and gray eyes narrowed in anger. Orochimaru almost laughed at the disjointed picture.

"Ah, so good of you to join me." He settled on saying, as if he were greeting an old comrade. "But you seem to be missing your mask, Naruto-_kun_."

Orochimaru reveled in the surprise that overtook the young man's features. Now that he truly knew whom he faced, Orochimaru was having quite a fun time identifying all the ways this young man was Uzumaki Naruto.

The boy had always let his emotions get the better of him. One simple mention of Sasuke could set him off.

"How did you—" Naruto, in his Henge, gaped at Orochimaru so much that the man wondered how the brat was able to keep his hold on the tree. But Orochimaru just smirked triumphantly at the young man.

"You were quite obvious in the Mogami Complex, Naruto-_kun_."

That wasn't quite true, as it had only been the combination of the visible, crimson chakra coming from Raiden as well as the specially-shaped kunai he had left behind that tipped Orochimaru off to Raiden's true identity. But he needn't share that with Naruto.

"I wonder why you even bother with such a meager disguise," Orochimaru scoffed instead and glanced over the disguise.

It wasn't quite what he had expected. Uzumaki Naruto was supposedly dead, although _that_ was obviously untrue. However, if he wasn't dead, then apparently he was hiding. Only, this disguise wasn't the nondescript black hair and eyes that would have passed for a typical face anywhere in Hi no Kuni and as far south as Tea Country.

The man on the tree scowled angrily and released his grip on the trunk in order to bring his hands together. The puff of clean white smoke that came from the burned-off chakra from the Henge disappeared quickly, leaving behind a young man's face Orochimaru hadn't seen in nearly five years.

"That better, snake-face?" Naruto growled.

His face was thinner than Orochimaru had anticipated. The last he had seen Uzumaki Naruto in his true form had been when the brat had invaded his fortress with every intent of dragging a wayward Uchiha Sasuke back to Konoha — by his hair, if necessary. That Naruto had barely been able to keep his hold on the demon inside him. The fox's power slipped out through the cracks that Naruto's raw emotions made in his shinobi visage.

The young man who stood before Orochimaru was taller than that boy had been. And there was no sign of _Kyuubi_'s chakra leaking from him. His eyes were completely blue, and his hair threatened to fall into his line of sight. He looked more like the young jounin who had beaten Orochimaru out for the position of Yondaime: Namikaze Minato.

"So, you truly have been Raiden all this time," Orochimaru murmured thoughtfully. "It seems Konoha has allowed you to grow much more than I initially anticipated."

He couldn't quite account for Naruto's surprising growth within four years. Of course, it could have been the power of the Nine-Tailed Fox. He himself had witnessed what _Kyuubi_ could do to an opponent in a one-on-one battle. Perhaps that explained some of what had happened in Asahi. None of Orochimaru's underlings had that kind of power, to wipe out an entire legion of shinobi in mere moments.

And then there was the uncanny ability to cheat death. Orochimaru almost chocked that skill up to the world's sense of humor, allowing fools to live long past their time. Hadn't Sarutobi-_sensei_ outlived his time before Orochimaru had seen fit to relieve him of the tediousness of life? But this power that Naruto had was different. According to Noboru's careless report, Raiden's ability to cheat death had something to do with a clone or some other kind of double. Even Orochimaru knew of Naruto's proclivity toward _Kage Bunshin no Jutsu_. But to find a way to turn the clones into extra lives . . .

"I never dreamed you would be this powerful."

The _Kyuubi jinchuuriki_ scowled at Orochimaru's pronouncement. Still, his eyes remained blue.

"Going to ask me to join you again?" spat Naruto.

The giant snake Manda flicked his tongue out, tasting the air. Orochimaru almost did the same.

"That would be pointless." He waved his hand through the air casually. "I am not as much a fool as Jiraiya was."

So, there was some of the hotheaded boy left in this young man that faced Orochimaru. The older man smirked as he watched Naruto bare his teeth and curl his free hand into a tight fist.

"Even now you remain as devoted to this backward village as he was."

Naruto's hands came together as he let himself fall off the tree trunk. Orochimaru's eyes sharpened instinctively, but Naruto's body flipped in a lazy circle so that Orochimaru could not see what hand seals the boy was making.

"_Summoning Jutsu_!" Naruto's voice suddenly rang out through the forest.

Orochimaru stood calmly amid the large cloud of smoke that issued from the free air below Naruto's falling body. He had faced Jiraiya enough times, after all, to know what to expect. The smoke cleared quickly, and Naruto stood on the head of a large orange and brown toad with a _haori_ draped across its fat body and a large scar crossing its left eyebrow — if toads had such things.

"Eh, Naruto?" the toad croaked around a thick pipe in its flat lips. "What are you summoning me away from the mountain for?"

Orochimaru chuckled. Jiraiya's summons had always been as thick as the man himself had been. The toad's flat pupils swiveled and pinned themselves directly on Orochimaru and the hissing snake that held him aloft.

"Manda," the toad grumbled deep in its throat.

Orochimaru's summons had never spoken of why the toads seemed to hate the snakes so much, and vice versa. Then again, Manda never spoke much at all to Orochimaru. Maybe the two clans' animosity could simply be a result of being forced to fight against each other so many times since Orochimaru had left Konoha.

On the head of the large toad, Naruto crouched on one knee and laid his palm flat on the toad's head. His posture would have been friendly, almost boarding on respectful given the kneeling, if Naruto had not kept his narrowed eyes on Orochimaru's figure the entire time.

"I'm gonna need your help for this one, _oyabun_," Orochimaru heard the young man say.

The giant toad raised a webbed hand to draw the thin pipe away from his mouth slowly and blew a stream of smoke from its wide lips.

"Konoha isn't that far away." The toad stuck one finger in the bowl of the pipe, extinguishing the smoldering leaves that smoked. The air suddenly smelled strongly of damp tobacco and fried fish.

"They're going to figure something out," the toad finished in a warning tone.

"I know," answered Naruto resolutely.

Well, now, wasn't _that_ curious? Once he had learned of Raiden's true identity, Orochimaru had assumed that the village of Konoha had known all along who Raiden was; that all this debacle about Konoha trying to hire Raiden from his position in Hafuko was mere posturing. Konoha had, after all, been the first ones to investigate the destruction of Asahi. Maybe they had just wanted to know how well Uzumaki Naruto had carried out his mission.

But from the toad's warning and Naruto's tone, like a condemned man quite used to the thought of his execution, made Orochimaru think that perhaps it had not been posturing. Konoha, and its inhabitants, hadn't known of Raiden's identity any more than Orochimaru had. In their eyes, Uzumaki Naruto was still dead.

Orochimaru idly wondered what the boy's former friends would think when they had to bury Naruto a second time.

**o0O0o**

"Why did you mention Itachi?" Sasuke demanded.

He held his _kodachi_ aloft in front of him and allowed his Sharingan to take in every detail of the man he faced. Danzo's right eye, red and black spinning idly, peeked out from beneath the bandages that covered half his head. The skin of his right arm was slightly discolored, frail and off-color as if it hadn't gotten enough sun. But more disturbing were the half dozen Sharingan eyes that twirled from their places embedded from Danzo's wrist to elbow. None of the eyes were over their second stage—none of the connected scythe-like or pinwheel designs that Sasuke remembered from his nightmares. But they were still enough to make Sasuke's knuckles tighten around the handle of his sword.

"Isn't it obvious?" Danzo asked calmly. "Your brother was a fool."

Danzo remained unmoving on the wall of wood that stretched almost as high as the concrete wall that protected the village of Konoha. A part of Sasuke wondered just how that little freak of nature had come about, but he was too focused on Danzo's words to pay the anomaly much attention.

"Itachi did his duty for Konoha," continued Danzo, "except for you."

"He killed my entire clan," Sasuke hissed through tightly clenched teeth.

It was a struggle for Sasuke to reign in his heated blood. For years, his entire existence had been limited to getting stronger than his brother, finding his brother and killing his brother. After that had all ended, he hadn't had time to find a new purpose before one was literally thrust into his chest.

Throughout his plodding along and protecting the village, Sasuke had deliberately not thought much of his brother. There were always rumors and whispers linking him with Orochimaru or making a big deal of his time away from the village. But the thing with Itachi was over and done with, and Sasuke had no need to think of it anymore. Except for the man standing in front of him and calling Naruto the same type of fool as Itachi was.

"The Uchiha Clan were traitors to Konoha," Danzo said.

_What the hell?_ Sasuke stared in shock and wondered how the man had jumped from calling only Sasuke a traitor—because he had no doubt of Danzo's opinion of him—to including his entire family in his disdain. Danzo didn't seem to mind Sasuke's silent conflict.

"Uchiha Fugaku was planning to lead a coup d'etat against the Sandaime Hokage." Danzo shuffled forward without any clear intent in his steps. "Their punishment was death, and your brother agreed to be their executer. For the sake of Konoha."

"He did it to test his capacity," Sasuke retorted, spitting up the phrase as if the words were vomited out of his stomach.

"All the civilians?" Danzo arched an eyebrow in a querying posture. "The women and children? Just to test his capacity?"

If those words had come from Orochimaru's mouth, Sasuke would have known the snake-like ninja was laughing at him. With Danzo's inflection, however, they just sounded like a man scoffing at a boy's delusions. Like how most people at the Academy had responded to Naruto's ever-loud declaration to be Hokage.

"Itachi never would have been capable," Danzo declared.

Sasuke had to force his mind back to what he had suffered because of Itachi instead of Naruto. Itachi sure as hell _was_ capable of that, the fact that Sasuke was the only remaining Uchiha was proof of that. But no, that wasn't right, either. Itachi himself had said he had help, one by the name of Uchiha Madara. Sasuke had supposed that the second murderer had been a matter of necessity, not willingness.

But hadn't Sasuke's father warned him against going down Itachi's path? Itachi and Father had been at odds for weeks before the massacre had taken place. Itachi had been angry and twitchy. Sasuke had cursed himself later for not realizing something was wrong with Itachi. What if Danzo was right and the problem had been with Father, not Itachi?

"You're lying," Sasuke whispered.

Danzo said nothing, but Sasuke hardly believed his own words himself. Orochimaru would have lied to him in order to cause him pain, just to try to throw him into a state of chaos. From what Sasuke knew of Danzo, he wielded truth like a weapon. Certainly, he was an accomplished liar—his manipulations of Naruto proved that—but then Itachi's face appeared before Sasuke's face. So clear that Sasuke thought for a moment that he had been caught in a genjutsu.

_"Sorry, otouto. This is the last time."_

Sasuke barely caught a strange movement from the corner of his left eye, and he turned his body on pure instinct. His blade caught on the large extension of wood that shot out from the wall he stood on like a branch that had been sped up in the growing process. Unprepared for the blow, Sasuke fell off the wall and used his _kodachi_ to cut through the freak branch that stretched toward him. As the blade slid smoothly through the wood, Sasuke used the momentum to flip himself around mid-air, extending his free hand to catch a thin branch on a nearby tree. He swung his body upside down and around the branch so that the force of stopping suddenly wouldn't dislocate his arm from its socket.

Sasuke landed on the balls of his feet on top of the branch with his sword still drawn. He shifted his weight to look back at Danzo and almost immediately had to channel more chakra to his feet to keep his stance on the tree as the ground below him shook. A large plume of smoke sprang up from the forest to the west of Sasuke, farther away from the village.

At first, Sasuke quailed, worried that Orochimaru had established another point of entry into the area and he would soon be overwhelmed with ungodly opponents. But then he saw the giant orange and brown toad that rose from the landscape and heard a booming voice question Naruto. Sasuke almost smiled.

"Fool," a cold voice muttered.

Sasuke's eyes snapped to where Danzo still stood on the wooden wall that extended parallel to Konoha. The man was staring up at the back of the toad with his mouth twisted into an ugly expression of distaste. Sasuke felt his blood heat with anger and decided that it didn't matter if Danzo was telling the truth.

"That fool is the one standing between Orochimaru and Konoha," Sasuke called to the man. "He has only ever protected Konoha, even when you thought you had him under your control. He would die for his village. He _has_ died for his village."

Danzo eyed Sasuke and turned his back on the toad.

"And will you do the same, Sasuke-_kun_?" he asked.

Sasuke slipped his sword back into the sheath on his back, a plan forming in his mind.

"I would do things Naruto would never do," he answered coldly.

Running through a familiar series of hand signs, Sasuke drew in a deep breath and held his finger up to his mouth. As he exhaled, the breath from his mouth turned to flames mere centimeters away from his lips.

"_Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu._"

The flames took on the appearance of a wild dragon and soared toward Danzo. Sasuke watched carefully as the fire dragon opened its mouth to swallow the man. However, Danzo remained standing where he was, only extending his right arm as if he would halt the dragon in its tracks. As Sasuke watched, Danzo's form seemed to shimmer, like a mirage in the haze of heat rising from the earth. The fire dragon passed through Danzo's hazy form and continued on, scorching the trees behind where Danzo stood, unharmed.

"Your acts in attacking a member of the village can be considered treasonous, Uchiha Sasuke," Danzo announced as if he were at a trial instead of a battle in the forest.

Sasuke grit his teeth to keep himself from answering. Nearly everyone in the village had called him a traitor at one point or another. The name-calling hardly bothered Sasuke anymore, but he did find it ironic that Danzo would call _him _a traitor after what he had done to Naruto. But there were more important things at stake. Danzo had avoided a direct hit from Sasuke's _Gouryuuka no Jutsu_, and Sasuke didn't know how yet.

Briefly, Danzo glanced down at his right arm. He shifted his stance so that his body was positioned between Sasuke's line of sight and Danzo's right arm, so Sasuke could no longer study the man's secret weapon. But Sasuke had an eye for detail. His Sharingan had seen what Danzo was apparently so worried about: One of the five Sharingan on his right arm had closed directly after Sasuke's fire dragon had passed through Danzo. That had to be the key to whatever Danzo had done to avoid any damage.

Sasuke jumped down from the branch that held him and landed on the forest floor. He spun quickly to keep Danzo in his sights, and the man looked down at him from his perch high above the ground. Sasuke had a plan. If those eyes were the key to Danzo's salvation, Sasuke would blind them. One at a time.

**o0O0o**

"I need more light!"

Sakura hurried to oblige the fellow _iryou-nin_, turning on the bedside lamp beside where Sai was lying with his hands grasping the sheets under him tightly. Sakura placed her fingers against the sides of Sai's throat again, her hands encased in green chakra.

"It's still spreading, Oyone-_sensei_," she reported, trying not to let the worry show in her voice.

"_Kuso_," growled Oyone. "Can you identify the paralytic?"

"No."

Sai didn't move as Sakura shifted her hands, trying to feel the difference in Sai's cells. It had only been moments after Sasuke had left that Sai had started choking on air. All the muscles in his neck were now paralyzed, and although Sai was still conscious he couldn't move, not to swallow or to talk or even to breath. He only stared at Sakura and Oyone-_sensei_ as they worked over him.

"We need to sever the connection between the cells already infected and the rest of his body," decreed Oyone.

"But the agent has already affected his windpipe _and _his esophagus!" Sakura protested, not taking her eyes from her work on Sai's neck.

Sakura could understand Oyone's decision. If they wanted to save Sai, they needed to cut away all the cells that were already paralyzed by whatever agent or nerve connection Danzo had put into the seal on Sai's tongue. Oyone was suggesting they had to work as if the affected cells were cancerous and simply cut away the tumor. But if half of Sai's throat was already involved, Sai would never be able to speak, much less breathe, once they completed the procedure.

"All right," Oyone said suddenly.

Sakura glanced up, hoping her hesitation hadn't cost Sai any time. But Oyone looked suddenly determined in a way that wasn't as panicked as he had been.

"For now, we'll seal off the contaminated cells so they don't infect anything else," declared Oyone. "Once we have the threat contained, we can see how much we can go back and save."

"Right." Sakura nodded and started to mover her fingers to where she felt the edge of Danzo's paralyzing agent affecting Sai's neck.

But Oyone pushed her hands away with a firm: "No."

"You focus on the tracheotomy," he said as his hands glowed green. "Don't cut into any of the infected flesh."

"_Hai_."

Sakura turned to grab a scalpel from the bedside table, where a small metal tray was filled with the most basic medical instruments. She hovered over the bed again and saw Sai's wide eyes looking up at her. His mouth wasn't smiling. Not even that fake smile that Sakura had always hated.

"You'll be all right, Sai," she whispered, willing it to be so.

Her fingers moved down the ridges of his exposed windpipe until she could feel the healthy cells beneath her hand. She grit her teeth behind closed lips and tried to smile at the wide-eyed young man.

"But remember," she said. "I expect you to be much politer to me after I save your life."

Sai winked at her, and Sakura let herself breathe a little more easily. She was the greatest _iryou-nin_ to come through the hospital's new training program. She had had Tsunade herself for a master. She could handle cutting a slit in Sai's throat so he would at least be able to breathe while Oyone did his work.

**o0O0o**

Mako landed hard on his back and wheezed as the impact forced all of the air out of his lungs. A shadow crossed over his face, and Mako pushed his shoulder against the hard concrete, rolling to one side. He ignored the way his muscles burned with no oxygen to fuel them and tucked his chin into his chest as he heard the _crack_ of stone tearing apart. Mako lay on his stomach and turned his face toward the place he had been a moment before. Hikaru was kneeling on the roof, his fist plunged into the concrete, creating a crater at least a half dozen centimeters deep.

Hikaru turned his face slowly toward Mako and glared. The thin black lines covered every exposed area of Hikaru's skin now, from his face all the way down to his fingertips. Mako panted and wheezed, trying to take in air to his lungs again, and pushed himself to his hands and knees.

"You did not have that _hitai-ate_ last time we met," murmured Hikaru.

Mako couldn't say anything while he was still trying to catch his breath. His ribs hurt so much that Mako was pretty sure something had broken — or at least cracked — in that last fall to the concrete. Hikaru yanked his fist from the concrete and sneered at Mako.

"So you've decided to ally yourself with Konoha," he hissed.

"Better than what you went to, freak," Mako huffed.

Hikaru charged again, and Mako briefly thought that maybe he shouldn't be making Orochimaru's pet any angrier than he already was. Mako crossed his arms in front of him and channeled enough of his own, natural chakra to his skin to protect himself. Even so, the force of Hikaru's palm strike made Mako skid across the roof.

Mako tried to ignore the way pain stabbed into his left side as he grit his teeth. But then Hikaru was right in front of him, ducking under Mako's raised arms to sweep his leg out. Mako only had time to lift one leg; his other got tangled up in Hikaru's attack, and Mako fell to one side. He tried to roll, raising his right arm instinctively to protect his chest. Then, something stabbed into his arm. Pain, sudden and hot, made Mako screw his eyes shut and cry out, as his arm was forced away from his body to flop to the concrete.

Mako peeled his eyes open. He was on his back on the roof again, with Hikaru hovering over him. One of Hikaru's hands was wrapped around the handle of the kunai that he had driven through Mako's forearm, just below his wrist. The weight of the kunai kept Mako's right arm pinned to the concrete while Hikaru's free hand wrapped around Mako's throat.

"I've heard that eating an enemy's heart will grant you their power." Hikaru leaned in so close to Mako that the Konoha genin could feel the heat of Hikaru's breath on his face.

A bead of sweat escaped the protection on Mako's forehead protector and dribbled down the side of his face. Mako tried hard to concentrate on how much the single drop of liquid was tickling him rather than how much the kunai in his arm felt like it was still tearing through his muscles.

"Maybe after I tear out your heart," Hikaru said, "I'll carve apart that Oto reject."

_Kaito_. The bastard wanted to hurt Kaito! Mako clawed at the hand around his throat, but Hikaru didn't move. Suddenly, Hikaru ripped the kunai out of Mako's arm and lifted it above his head like a dagger. Mako heard a strange scraping sound coming from his right side, like nails on a chalkboard. Or like metal across concrete. Mako saw the blade sliding toward him from the corner of his eye. He stretched out his hand and grabbed the handle of the slowly-rotating _wakizashi_. Then Mako lunged forward, the hand around his throat almost choking him as he thrust the blade up and into Hikaru's chest.

With his arm still holding the kunai above his head, Hikaru sucked in a wet breath and let his gaze fall to the short sword piercing his heart. Mako kept his grip on the sword strong and ignored the way the blood from his forearm trickled slowly toward his armpit.

"Don't you _ever_ touch my family," Mako growled.

Hikaru only slumped forward bonelessly, his eyes glazing over with the rheumy blindness of death. Mako shoved the body to the side and left the blade in the flesh.

"_Oi_! Are you okay!"

Daisuke ran up to Mako and crouched down beside the older boy.

"I shoved you the sword, 'cuz you dropped it, and you looked like you needed it. And you just grabbed it and _whoosh_!" Daisuke said all in one hurried breath.

"Shut up," Mako growled.

Now that he wasn't fighting for his life, he was very aware of how his blood was slowly seeping out of his body. That couldn't be healthy. Mako pushed himself to sit up, gritting his teeth against the pain that shot through his side.

"What about Yuuta?" Mako asked. If he had to deal with another Oto-genin now, he was going to be screwed.

"I knocked him out," Daisuke announced proudly. "I tricked him with the _Kawarimi_ and then I smacked him from behind."

Mako scanned the devestated roof long enough for his eyes to find the unconscious form of the other enemy. He nodded.

"Mako!"

And that would be Kaito. Mako's head snapped up and he saw Kaito and another boy, this one with long, dark hair and very pale eyes, land on the roof from a nearby building. Kaito's arm was slung around the other boy's shoulders, and Mako could already see the limp in Kaito's left leg.

"What happened to you?" Mako demanded from his seat on the ground.

Kaito grimaced, but he didn't turn his face away.

"I got in a hit, but that Akio formed a barrier with stone." Kaito glanced down at his leg. "I think it's just sprained."

Mako pressed the heel of his left hand to his side and sucked in a deep breath slowly.

"Your ribs?" Kaito demanded sharply.

"Yeah." Mako turned his face to Kaito; he had to look pretty far up now that Kaito was standing right next to him. "I won, though."

Kaito studied him for a minute, as if he thought he'd see any more injuries if he could just stare long enough to see through Mako. Mako just suspected Kaito was trying to look like Naruto-_sensei_. Then, suddenly, Kaito shook his head and gave a scoff.

"You're an idiot," he declared.

"Hey!" Mako raised one finger to point directly at Kaito's face. "_I_ am a fool."

Mako's smile came easier at the reference, especially when he saw the way the other two students frowned at each other and then looked back at Mako as if inspecting him for hidden damages. It was kind of fun to have a secret word that meant something different than what other people thought it meant.

With the attention off him, Mako shifted to get his feet under him again. He saw both Kaito and Daisuke reach out their hands to help him up. He latched on to Daisuke's hand — he didn't want to give Kaito any more weight to handle when he was already injured — leaving Kaito to hook his hand under Mako's right arm. As soon as he was upright, he eyed Daisuke commandingly.

"You'd better tie Yuuta up," he said. "It wouldn't be good if he woke up and decided to try to kill somebody else."

Mako was vaguely aware that he could have, and probably should have, just sliced the boy's throat open to make sure he was dead. But he didn't want to. He'd let one of the grown-ups deal with the kid instead. Daisuke nodded and hurried to obey the older boy

"Akio—"

"He's dead."

The kid that had helped Kaito interrupted Mako before he could even finish the thought. This had to be Hotaka that Daisuke had referred to. Mako studied the boy briefly and thought of the team of three genin who had agreed to include Mako and Kaito in their training time.

"Are you related to Yoshi?" he blurted at the boy who was supporting Kaito.

He certainly looked like it, especially with those eyes.

"Hyuuga Hiyoshi?" Hotaka asked warily.

"I think so." Mako just shrugged. "Your eyes are the same color as his."

Yoshi had introduced himself as Yoshi. Mako supposed it could be a nickname, but he hadn't asked.

"We are second cousins," answered Hotaka, a little stiffly.

Mako nodded, not knowing what else to say to that. Daisuke bounded up to the party.

"So, what now?"

Mako glanced toward the sun then turned to his left.

"We still gotta make it pretty far." His eyes surveyed the mountain that loomed over the village.

"What about the Tower?" Kaito pointed out the tall structure sitting near the base of the mountain. "That's where Hokage-_sama_ is, so all the kids'll be safe there, right?"

"We went there once for a field trip," the boy standing next to Mako commented.

"Bully for you, Daisuke," Mako drawled while he craned his neck to look down the street.

Mako looked back at Kaito before Daisuke could say anything.

"I think it'll work," he announced.

Suddenly, there was a roar that sounded too much like a beast to belong to a human. Mako glanced over his shoulder, searching for the source of the sound. It had been easy to forget that he and Kaito and the two students who had come to help them weren't the only ones fighting against Oto. Everything for a while had just boiled down to not dying on top of the roof. Mako had forgotten that everyone else in the village was fighting, too. The metal band across his forehead suddenly felt very heavy.

"What the hell was that!" shouted Daisuke.

"We should hurry," Kaito told Mako instead of replying to the kid's worry.

Mako saw the worry in Kaito's eyes and didn't really want to call him on it. Kaito would know better than Mako what _hebi-teme_ could do — _would_ do to people who were supposed to be his followers.

"Right." Mako nodded firmly and presented his back to Daisuke. "Hold on. We'll bring you down the the others and then head out."

"You're not carrying me down," Daisuke immediately protested.

"I could always push you and see how well you land." Mako frowned, annoyed at the kid's reluctance. This was kind of a life-and-death situation here, and he was complaining about a piggy-back ride?

"We could just climb down with the kunai we used to get up here," Daisuke was still grumbling.

From the far eastern wall came another growl, this one louder and far more aggravated than the previous. Mako watched Daisuke literally pale before his eyes.

"Then again, faster is always good, too."

Despite knowing that Orochimaru probably had monsters stationed in the village, Mako almost felt like laughing at Daisuke's sudden change of opinion. He swallowed it back quickly and presented his back to the boy again. Daisuke linked his arms around Mako's neck and let his legs hook around Mako's hands, just at his waist. Mako grit his teeth together tightly so no one would hear him grunt in pain. The guy was heavy against his already-hurting ribs, but it was only for a little while, so Mako thought he could deal. At least they had a plan, now, as well as a clearer direction about where they were going.

**o0O0o**

Iruka tried to wedge his fingers between his throat and the fabric that was wrapped around his neck. His eyes watered, but he could still see the figure of the young man with pieces of his ripped clothing flying out like living tentacles.

Or like tails.

One of the pieces of clothing held Iruka by the neck while another had Konohamaru pinned down against a large plank of wood, a support beam to what had once been a residential building before it had collapsed around the Oto-nin. Udon was helping Moegi to stand while his eyes darted from his teammate to the enemy, wondering what move would be best. Meanwhile, Kiba and Shino were still free, but both were having trouble landing a hit on the Oto-nin. It was so strange seeing Kiba fight without his giant partner beside him.

The cloth around Iruka's neck tightened, and he felt his fingernails scrape the thin skin of his neck as he tried to claw the chokehold away from his windpipe. His eyesight was getting worse with the lack of oxygen. But through the black spots dotting his vision, Iruka saw two greenish hand-like appendages chase down Kiba, who was suddenly on his back. Iruka had missed how that had happened. Still, he couldn't do nothing as the attack sailed for Kiba.

Iruka released one hand from his throat and pulled out a kunai from the pouch on his leg. He threw the weapon towards the advancing hands, laced with a chakra that was surely as poisonous to Shino's insects as it was to human flesh. The weapon by itself would do little, but maybe it would give Kiba or Shino a chance to—

"_Mokuton: Moku Jouheki no Jutsu_."

Suddenly, a cocoon of wooden beams rose up from the ruined building and surrounded both Kiba and Shino. Another sprout of wood, like a fast-growing branch, slammed into the length of cloth that was attached to Iruka's throat. Iruka jerked forward with the force of the blow, but then the fabric that had been choking him gave way. Iruka pulled back out of sheer instinct and rubbed his abused throat, trying to take in as much air as possible. His clearing eyes followed the length of wood back to where the very start of it grew out of a man's hand.

"Yamato!" Kiba cried happily.

Iruka took a deep breath again to slow his racing heart. It seemed reinforcements were here. The man named Yamato turned his head just enough to look at Iruka.

"Are you all right?" he called.

"Yes." Iruka nodded shortly.

A sudden crash made Iruka leap sideways. The Oto-nin had broken free of Yamato's wooden spear, although he had to release his cloth-grip on Konohamaru to do so. Iruka took advantage of the sudden chaos to leap over to his students, quickly assessing Konohamaru for any broken bones or bleeding wounds.

"Iruka-_sensei_," Kiba shouted as Yamato and Shino both took up the offensive. "Take the kids and get outa here."

"What?" Konohamaru croaked and rubbed his sore throat much the way Iruka had. "No way!"

Konohamaru practically vaulted himself toward the edge of the roof, as if he were going to jump right into the fray. Iruka grabbed Konohamaru's arm and jerked him backwards, hard. Kiba spun around and glared at Konohamaru before the teacher could say anything.

"Get outa here, _kozou_!" Kiba waved one hand in a shooing motion. "Naruto'll kill me if—"

Kiba cut himself off as abruptly as if someone else had slapped a hand over his mouth. He turned his back on the three students standing alongside their old teacher while Iruka tried to puzzle out what Kiba had been saying.

Iruka knew how much Naruto had cared about Konohamaru, in almost a big brother kind of fashion when Naruto had been around to spend time with the Sandaime's grandson. That Kiba would feel some responsibility toward Konohamaru for the sake of Naruto's memory wasn't an absurd thought. What was absurd was the idea that Kiba had been speaking as if he expected Naruto to appear before him and actually do something if Kiba failed.

"Naruto's dead."

Iruka was surprised at the venom laced within Konohamaru's voice. Iruka himself supposed he probably wouldn't think much of Kiba's comment if Kiba hadn't stopped himself mid-sentence as if he were afraid of saying something he shouldn't. Kiba glanced over his shoulder at the small group and then faced the battle again.

"That's what you think," Kiba muttered just barely loud enough for Iruka to hear.

Iruka's jaw dropped.

"What?" he gasped.

Kiba spun around, then, his eyes hard despite the topic.

"You want to see him again, you have to survive this," ordered the jounin. "Go to the Mountain."

Iruka desperately wanted to demand more answers of Kiba. That couldn't be the whole of the story. How could it be possible to see Naruto if they survived? Iruka had long resigned himself to the fact that he would only meet his treasured student — the boy he saw so much of himself in — after death, if whatever passed for an afterlife permitted it.

Suddenly, all thoughts ceased when Iruka saw another long strip of the ragged fabric sailing toward him like a whip. Iruka drew a kunai to defend the chuunin trio behind him, but then a surge of chakra rose mere seconds before two wooden beams appeared in front of Iruka, colliding with the fabric and forcing it away. Iruka glanced up to where Yamato stood, closer now to the small band of chuunin on the rooftop.

"Are you sure you'll be able to handle this on your own?" Iruka asked.

He hoped Yamato didn't think Iruka doubted his abilities. But in any battle, greater numbers were usually better against an opponent. But Yamato just shook his head once and stared at the Oto-nin grimly.

"Senju's cells have the power to subdue a _bijuu_," Yamato stated quietly. "This is what Godaime ordered of me."

Iruka gave the man a brief nod and then turned to the tree-man team behind him.

"Let's go," he ordered.

"But—" Konohamaru gestured vaguely toward Kiba rather than the majority of the battle where the Oto-nin was focused once again on Shino.

"Now." Iruka narrowed his eyes into an authoritative stare. It usually worked on all but the most rambunctious students. Like Konohamaru had been. Like Naruto had once been.

Konohamaru turned away from the battle with a decided glare toward Iruka. Iruka couldn't manage to berate the teenager for his lack of respect. He knew how much Konohamaru wanted answers about what Kiba had meant. Iruka wanted answers as well. But he would have to wait until after the battle to know what Kiba knew of Uzumaki Naruto.

**o0O0o**

"Are you sure of the report?" Tsunade demanded of the girl in front of her.

Suzune nodded tremulously. She was a good student, Tsunade knew. Shizune herself had taken a part in Suzune's training, but the girl was young enough that she had never seen Konoha attacked like this. Hell, Tsunade suspected the closest Konoha had come to this kind of attack had been four years ago when Pain razed the village in search of Naruto.

"Raiden-_san_ was the one who felt Orochimaru's presence outside the village," Suzune reported in a voice that shook only slightly. "He said he would engage Orochimaru himself."

Raiden being Naruto in reality, Tsunade reflected that she really shouldn't be surprised. She pressed her fingertips to her temple and sighed. A large part of Tsunade wanted desperately to be out in her village, fighting against the Oto-nin herself, but she didn't want to leave anyone else in charge of handling the many reports flooding into the Hokage Office.

Besides, women could multitask much better than men could.

"All right," she said to Suzune. "Go back to the hospital and report to the post-surgery department. Do whatever you can."

Suzune nodded eagerly. At least this way, the girl would only see the patients who had actually survived their procedures.

"So, Raiden is determined to fulfill his contract," drawled a rough voice beside Tsunade's desk.

Tsunade turned to roll her eyes at Nara Shikaku.

"At least Sasuke is at the hospital with Sakura," she said.

She hadn't really heard from or interacted with Sasuke since Naruto had finally revealed his true face. So, she wasn't sure if Sasuke was close to killing Naruto for tricking everyone like that or if Sasuke would turn into the most protective mother-hen since Kushina had first been pregnant. As crazy as the latter option sounded, Tsunade thought it would be appropriate for Sasuke to be so tied to someone who had sacrificed so much for him.

"Raiden has a personal reason to want Orochimaru dead," Shikaku posed thoughtfully. "Are you sure he is the best suited to engage him in single combat?"

"You have no idea," sighed Tsunade

Naruto had plenty of reasons to want Orochimaru dead, but all of them related back to those Orochimaru had hurt, not to Naruto himself. Tsunade glanced at Shikaku to find him staring at her curiously. She had forgotten, with as good as Shikaku was, that no one outside of the Rookies knew about Raiden's true face.

She'd have to deal with that after the battle.

"Hokage-_sama_." A flack-vested chuunin stormed into her office with a relieved look on his face. "The Suna team has defeated the remnants of the attack against the eastern wall."

"Good." Tsunade nodded. When the Kazekage's sister and her team had arrived and reported directly to the Hokage Tower, Tsunade had happily sent them directly back into the fray.

Considering the largest breech to Konoha's security was at the eastern wall, Tsunade had pointed the three competent Suna-nin in that direction and let them go. The hole in the center of the village had already been closed up, thanks to the ANBU team working in conjunction with Kakashi and Naruto, Tsunade later learned. Things were already looking up.

"But reports say only half of the Academy students arrived at the caverns," the chuunin finished his report in a rush of breath.

All good feelings came crashing down around Tsunade.

"Dammit," she growled through gritted teeth. If she wasn't so concerned about her village, she would have needed a whole barrel of sake. "Where are the rest?"

The chuunin looked positively stricken, and Tsunade realized without even hearing the words stuck in his throat that he didn't know any better than she did. Another man, an older jounin with light hair, hurried into the room without bowing at all.

"Hokage-_sama_, Kakashi-_senpai_ has engaged an Oto-nin with strange chakra just inside the main gate."

Tsunade signaled an ANBU to dispatch at least a partnership of ANBU soldiers toward the eastern wall to search for the missing children. Only then did she turn her attention back on the phrase that had caught her attention from the jounin.

"What kind of strange chakra?" she demanded.

Much of the man's confidence seemed to shrivel upon itself.

"It felt like . . ." he hedged as his eyes fell to the floor.

Tsunade suspected she knew what the man obviously didn't want to say. He was certainly old enough to remember what had happened twenty years ago.

"Like a _bijuu_?" she asked coldly.

The jounin's eyes flew to Tsunade's face, both horrified and solemn.

"Yes," he answered.

So, Orochimaru's latest experiments with the _bijuu_ chakra he had somehow managed to get were here. Worse, they were _inside _the village. The one comfort Tsunade drew from the report was that Kakashi was the one fighting them. Kakashi, at least, had the advantage of the seals Naruto had created based on what he had used on the _Ten no Juuin_ on Kaito.

Kakashi had seemed confident in the seals, which was impressive, considering the seals had initially been meant for a completely different use. True, they were still meant to suppress a certain type of chakra, but the completely foreign substance of _bijuu_ chakra was different from the biological agents that made up most of the Heaven Seal's power. And in the art of _fuuinjutsu,_ changing the purpose of the seal even slightly could set off a series of changes that would then have to be implemented within the seal's structure.

The fact that Naruto had deduced the differences and managed to come up with all the changes necessary to create a working seal in less than twenty-four hours was extremely impressive. Tsunade almost chuckled. Maybe it would save her time if she just started expecting the impossible from Naruto right from the start.

A sudden crash from outside the window diverted Tsunade's attention. She followed Shikaku to the window in her office, peering into the west. There was a great dust cloud rising up from the forest, but then a large figure emerged from the dust, orange and brown and powerful.

"A toad?" Shikaku breathed, a half-question that didn't really expect an answer.

The giant toad that had appeared from a cload of smoke suddenly jumped into the air, giving the gathered crowd in the Hokage Tower a clear view of the _haori_ draped across its stout form. Tsunade could now recognize exactly which member of the Toad Clan that was jumping around outside her village now. She glanced at Shikaku, who kept his eyes steadily on the giant toad.

Tsunade frowned and thought Naruto's valiant efforts to keep his own secrets wouldn't matter very soon. Everyone knew that Jiraiya had had the toad contract for summoned animals, and nearly as many knew that Naruto had been Jiraiya's apprentice, thereby gaining the contract that Jiraiya had left behind.

"Hokage-_sama_," Shikaku started in a completely calm voice. "There is a toad fighting against Orochimaru and his summons."

"Yes," agreed Tsunade.

She dared to shoot Shikaku a quelling look, ordering him without words to be silent. Shikaku hardly reacted for the thoughtful look on his face. Tsunade recognized the look of a brain working at much more than its normal speed. Shikaku was putting the pieces together, and quickly.

Tsunade glanced out the window again and really hoped Naruto knew what he was doing.

**o0O0o**

Naruto grit his teeth and threw a simple exploding tag towards the oil that streamed from Gamabunta's mouth. The small explosion was enough to light the oil and create a stream of fire that made up the _Katon: Gamayu Endan_. The fire streamed toward Orochimaru's giant snake for a dead on hit.

"Under!" Orochimaru shouted.

Naruto didn't think he imagined the hint of panic in Orochimaru's voice. The thought made him smile. Suddenly, Manda dove for the ground, burrowing into the thick earth and leaving a round tunnel behind, much like the one that had appeared in the center of Konoha. Naruto eyed the tunnel warily, but no crazy, zombie Oto-nin came popping up out of the ground.

"We get 'im?" Naruto called hopefully.

"No," Gamabunta grumbled back. "I can feel Manda coiling underground."

Naruto grit his teeth together but forced himself to remain still as he stood on top of Gamabunta's head. Strength from the trees, the forest itself, that surrounded the battle seeped into Naruto's body, and he could feel what the toad-boss was talking about. There, beneath the packed earth of the forest, Manda was curled. The giant snake was a little inhibited by the large roots of the trees that stretched underneath the forest floor, but that could work to Naruto's advantage.

"Gama-_oyabun_, I'm gonna need ya to jump when I say."

If he could pull this off, maybe he wouldn't need to draw this battle out too long. Naruto could feel the strength coming into him from the forest around him; vastly different from the pitiful boost of sage chakra he had experienced within Orochimaru's underground lair, this chakra felt clean and crisp. Naruto held his right hand out, palm up, and concentrated on channeling chakra to his hand, shaping it into swirls and eddies until it formed a ball. Then he raised it over his head so the quickly-forming blades of Wind chakra wouldn't cut him as they circled around the spheric base.

"Now!" Naruto called down to Gamabunta.

Naruto felt the breeze rushing by his face as the giant toad's back legs propelled them into the air. Gamabunta looked down at the ground as he reached the peak of his leap, and Naruto took the chance to train his eyes past the toad's flat face to the point where he felt the slimy chakra he was looking for. Then, he circled his arm around and launched the jutsu in his hand.

"_Rasenshuriken_!" he yelled toward the ground like a _kiai_.

The spinning disc twisted so that the blades spun almost parallel to the ground. Naruto felt the giant presence in the ground move a mere second before his jutsu met its target, cutting through earth and roots. Gamabunta descended while Manda's head emerged from the ground, mouth open in a high-pitched squeal of pain. Naruto knew his eyes weren't quite as good as Sasuke's for catching details in slow motion, but even he could tell that Manda hadn't moved fast enough. The _Rasenshuriken_ had caught the snake right in its midsection as Manda had tried to get out of the way. The snake was sliced cleanly in half.

Orochimaru flailed for a moment on top of Manda's head, and Naruto almost laughed outright at the sight. But then Manda disappeared in a cloud of smoke and Orochimaru stood on a ruined tree. The trunk of the tree had been uprooted and leaned at a precarious angle to the forest floor, while the branch Orochimaru stood on had been severed cleanly about six meters from the trunk of the tree, courtesy of Naruto's jutsu.

Gamabunta landed with a _thump_ on the earth again. Naruto briefly felt bad for the amount of damage he was causing to the forest, but suddenly Orochimaru extended his hands toward Gamabunta. His arms stretched and became almost boneless.

"_Oyabun?_" Naruto called in a voice that was desperately trying not to show how worried he was.

Gamabunta surged into the air again as Orochimaru's arms morphed into thicker flesh, his hands growing almost like Chouji's could with his family jutsu. Naruto jerked forward but immediately brought his hands together and ran through the hand seals he needed. Hurriedly, he slashed his right hand in front of his chest like a blade. His Fuuton jutsu sailed forward and forced Orochimaru's boneless hands to swerve in the opposite direction as Gamabunta.

"I need fire again," called Naruto.

He dug into his pouch for another explosive tag and quickly transferred it to his left hand as he concentrated on the growing ball of chakra in his right hand. Gamabunta landed with a deep breath that Naruto could feel beneath his feet, and the toad-boss spewed out a stomachful of oil. Naruto tossed the explosive tag at the oil to create the stream of fire he needed, then he raised his right hand above his head, the _Rasenshuriken_ already formed. Heaving his arm forward, Naruto threw the spinning Fuuton jutsu through the Katon and re-created the spinning pinwheel of fire that launched toward Orochimaru.

Gamabunta landed with a _thump_ as Naruto watched his attack sail toward the man suddenly without his snake. Orochimaru didn't move from where he was except to run through hand seals. Naruto saw him slam his hand down on the ground suddenly.

"_Kuchiyose: Rashōmon._"

The forest sprang apart as two pillars rose from the ground to frame a giant red _torii_ gate with the face of an _oni_ between the pillars Naruto scowled as the _oni_ face opened and swallowed up the fiery pinwheel.

"We gotta try something different," Naruto muttered.

"Hmm?" Gamabunta rolled his large eyes up toward the man on his head.

"He's strong enough to absorb or avoid all the large attacks we're throwing at him," Naruto explained. "We gotta make this personal."

"You want me to stick around?" pressed the giant toad.

"No." Naruto brushed his lengthening hair back from his bare forehead. "Go back to the mountain and tell Pa Toad I might need a reverse summons. This'll get ugly pretty soon."

"If you say so." Gamabunta sounded somewhat dubious, but Naruto knew the toad-boss would at least do what he asked.

Before he completely lost his footing, Naruto pressed his hands together and called up a single _kage tensei_. He turned to his copy, like looking into a mirror.

"Sage chakra." The clone nodded abruptly. "Right."

"And if anyone tries to come as back-up, keep them away," Naruto ordered.

He couldn't afford anyone getting caught up in the kind of clash he was anticipating. The clone nodded again and then jumped off Gamabunta's head to disappear into the forest.

"All right, _Oyabun_," Naruto called down while he kept his eyes on Orochimaru's figure.

The giant creature below him grunted — Naruto wasn't quite sure what that meant — as Naruto's hand dove into his weapons pouch. He fingers found the thickest handle in the pack and wrapped around it. The solid perch beneath his feet suddenly disappeared into a cloud of smoke, and Naruto threw the tri-pronged kunai into the forest. He closed his eyes as he fell, searching for the specific chakra that felt like his own seals. He sensed the _Hiraishin_ seal speeding through the air and started to reach, but then he realized something.

There was another seal nearby. It was unmoving, but Naruto could still feel a trace of the chakra he pumped into the seals he had made. Naruto grit his teeth and reached for the moving seal; it was easier to locate and to jump to that one. He landed on the side of a tree trunk, perched on one knee with his other leg bent as his right hand grasped the kunai embedded in the tree trunk. Still, there was another one of his seals close by, and Naruto didn't know how it had gotten there.

Naruto yanked the kunai out of the wood and started to turn to where he knew Orochimaru had to be. Then, from the corner of his eye, he saw a cloud of blue haze heading toward him.

"Whoa!"

Naruto bent himself backwards, keeping a hold on the tree with chakra while the attack sailed over his head. He felt the heat from the chakra sail past his face, burning a streak across his left cheek. Naruto cringed as he straightened, grimacing as the skin over his cheek stretched tightly. Something was dripping down his chin; he could already feel it tickling his skin.

"How very remarkable," hissed Orochimaru, much closer than Naruto had anticipated.

Naruto pivoted on his foot, spinning around to land upright on a nearby branch. Orochimaru stood on a branch just below Naruto, smiling slyly.

"It would appear you have lived up to your legacy after all, Naruto-_kun_."

* * *

A/N: Goodness, is that the new year already? So much for my valiant efforts to get this story done by the end of 2011. At the moment, I kind of feel like my final conflict has been going on at least as long as the current manga war has been enduring.

Warning: Rant ahead. I re-read most of the manga chapters on Sasuke's battle with Danzo in order to write most of Sasuke's _new_ battle with Danzo (told in _my _version). That only made me remember how much I initially disliked the choreography of the battle. Actually, pretty much any battle where Sharingan is pitted against Sharingan is problematic. Plus, there were far too many things in the Sasuke v. Danzo manga battle that either didn't really make sense or had no explanation. The hardest part for me was when Sasuke pulls out a summoning jutsu and says, "Look! I have a hawk!" Danzo, of course, answers with "Look! I have a nightmare-eating Tapir!" And we are left wondering where the heck they're pulling these animals from.

Note that Sasuke's new contract with hawks, of all things, is never explained either during or after the battle, also.

Okay, I'm done ranting. Suffice to say that I really wanted to keep Danzo's battle with Sasuke in my fic well within the realms of physics that I have already established within my playground that Kishimoto built. So, no strange summons, but plenty of crazy eyes, which will feature much more heavily in the next chapter.

See you in 2012!

Fia

_Doton: Doryuu Heki_ – Earth Element: Earth Style Wall. I've used this before, but just to remind you: The ninja will do the necessary hand seals and then spew a line of mud onto the ground. The mud will then grow into a large mud wall to help defend against incoming attack. Kakashi uses this jutsu by slamming his palms on the ground.

_Hiraishin no Jutsu_ – Flying Thunder God Technique: Pure awesomeness. A space-time jutsu similar to summoning, in order to perform this jutsu the ninja first needs to mark his destination with a _shiki_ (rite) first, he can then activate the jutsu to come to the mark. He can apply this to a weapon such as a kunai, and when thrown or used, he can instantly travel to it. He can also apply the mark to a touched area, such as his opponent or some other surrounding feature.

_Katon: Gamayu Endan_ – Toad Oil Fireball: Done in partnership with Gamabunta, Jiraiya will stand atop Gamabunta's head and form the seals for a Katon jutsu. Gamabunta will draw oil within his gullet and then expel a jet of it. When the fire of Jiraiya's katon hits the oil, it ignites into a huge flaming fireball. Naruto also used a variation of this technique in conjunction with Gamabunta. Unfortunately because Naruto could not use Katon at the time, he had to use an explosive note to ignite the oil.

_Katon: Gouryuuka no Jutsu – _Great Dragon Fire Technique: After forming the needed hand seals, the ninja will expel dragonhead fireballs at their opponent. These powerful fireballs can punch through concrete.

_Kawarimi no Jutsu_ – Substitution Technique: One of three basic techniques all Academy students learn. When in danger the ninja will quickly substitute himself with another nearby object. This can be a block of wood or even another person.

_Kuchiyose: Rashōmon _– Summoning Technique: Rashōmon is one of Orochimaru's techniques that summons a giant gate that kind of looks like the old main gate to Kyoto. Orochimaru uses it against Naruto when Naruto first pulls out the four-tail Kyuubi mode.

_Kyūketsukō_ – Inhaling Maw: This technique is actually part of the Naruto: Shippuden movie number three, although I have taken it and made it simpler for my own purposes. Hiruko in the movie uses the technique to forcibly extract chakra from an enemy and absorb it through a mark in his hand. The Oto-genin level version of this involves creating threads out of chakra to join the attacker and the victim. The chakra is then drained through the threads and fed into the castor.

_Mokuton: Moku Jouheki no Jutsu_ – Wood Release: Wood Barrier Technique is a unique Ninjutsu used by Yamato. Using his ability to utilize Mokuton (wood release) techniques, Yamato will form handseals and cause beams of wood to emerge from the ground. The beams can converge to form a half spherical barrier to deflect an incoming blast.


	20. In Which They Clash

Chapter 19: In Which They Clash

_When brothers agree, no fortress is so strong as their common life._

~ Antisthenes

**o0O0o**

Fukasaku frowned up at one of his many children. Gamabunta may have been the largest of his offspring, but that didn't mean Fukasaku was going to be lenient by any means.

"And you just left Naruto-_chan_ there?" demanded the old, wizened toad.

"What he said was right," Gamabunta rebutted. "Orochimaru was countering every one of our attacks, and the only damage we were doing was to the forest around us. Naruto is strong enough to take on Orochimaru now, and he has tricks that snake doesn't know about."

Fukasaku hummed thoughtfully, but he refused to agree with Gamabunta's point. At least verbally. But Naruto _had _been very dedicated during his time on Mount Myokubazon. And the boy was just as creative as Jiraiya had been. Not only had he come up with a technique that allowed him to keep his existence secret from all of Konoha — or almost all — Naruto had also created a jutsu that would allow him to dispense entirely with Pein's rain jutsu and mastered or perfected his father's techniques.

Fukasaku had been a very surprised witness to how much Naruto had grown since he had first encountered the boy, trying so desperately to save everyone he could all the while feeling the world he knew slip through his fingers. But Naruto had found a way to reconcile one he considered his brother and the village that he loved, even at great cost to himself. And then, Fukasaku had watched the boy take on students of his own, treating them many times like his own children rather than the genin students he might have had.

"Very well," Fukasaku grumbled. He didn't like it, but Gamabunta had a point, and Naruto was much more capable now than he had been in years past.

"He said he might call for a reverse summons if things get bad," Gamabunta said in his deep voice.

Fukasaku's eyes narrowed suspiciously at the giant warrior-toad.

"Does he expect things to get bad?"

Gamabunta let a low grumble escape from the back of his throat, more of a croak than a real displeased sound.

"He had that look on his face," Gamabunta finally said. "He's going to do this even if it kills him."

Fukasaku thought of the boy that had first come to the mountain, barely sixteen and determined to trade his life for everyone he cared for because he had to protect them. Naruto had died before, in the eyes of those who saw what he was doing, and had come out all right once he had gotten over the effects of his _kage tensei_.

"We'll trust that Naruto-_chan_ knows what he's doing," the old toad sighed.

Fukasaku only hoped that such a dramatic escape wouldn't be necessary for a second time.

**o0O0o**

Orochimaru could still feel the skin on his right arm pull tight over his muscles, singed from the jutsu that Naruto had thrust toward Manda. His seals for his summoning jutsu were basically useless now unless he took the time to heal his body, which would drain his chakra considerably. And he had other things to worry about now.

From what he had seen, Uzumaki Naruto had indeed learned the Yondaime's _Hiraishin._ He would have to take that into consideration, especially now that Naruto stood upright in a tree close to Orochimaru. He could easily be behind Orochimaru's back in a flash. Orochimaru studied his opponent's eyes but only saw the gold and black that Jiraiya had mastered long ago. He would have to approach this a different way.

"I am surprised that you sent your summons away, Naruto-_kun_," he said slowly.

"Yeah. He woulda really liked to smoosh you like a bug, _hebi-teme_."

For as much as the corners of Naruto's mouth were pulled up, Orochimaru didn't dare call the flash of teeth that ensued a smile.

"But then," Orochimaru continued without regard to Naruto's mood, "you have always been a certain kind of strong."

He could still remember fighting for his life against a creature that looked like a cross between human and fox, covered in a living, tangible chakra that was the same color as dried blood.

"Do not believe that I have forgotten the power you contain."

Naruto glared at Orochimaru, who quite ignored that piece of information. As long as the young man's eyes stayed away from their crimson color, Orochimaru had some time. But nothing was guaranteed.

"You have managed to avoid the very power determined to contain all the _bijuu_," Orochimaru stated, watching Naruto's eyes closely. "And I hear that Raiden was instrumental in destroying the group known as Akatsuki."

Naruto quickly lifted a kunai from his pouch and launched it toward Orochimaru. The man easily ducked it, but he was hard-pressed to dodge the stream of scalding water that followed after the weapon. Letting the bones in his limbs transform only partially to the multi-linked vertebrae found in his summons, Orochimaru snaked his arms around the tree and vaulted around the trunk so that he had something of a barrier between himself and the attack. He heard the hiss of steam as it hit the wood in front of him, but then a soft sound from behind Orochimaru caught his attention.

Orochimaru steadied himself on the side of the trunk and twisted his neck quite easily to look behind him. Naruto was suddenly crouching upside down on a large branch, his hand wrapped around the handle of a tri-pronged kunai and his red-rimmed eyes closed in concentration. Frowning, Orochimaru broke down what had just happened. The kunai he had dodged had obviously been more important than he had originally thought. Then, the attack of water — possibly heated with a seal or explosive tag — was a distraction while Naruto executed the activation of the seal that would carry him faster to his destination faster than any jutsu or chakra trick could possibly do so.

Naruto had _needed _that distraction, Orochimaru realized as he released the tree to block the new attack coming from his back, dropping down to a lower branch. As strong as the young man was, he wasn't at Yondaime's level yet. He still needed that moment of concentration to find the seal, and he kept his eyes closed. For a moment, he was blind when he traveled.

Orochimaru could use that.

"A pity that you had to kill all those within Akatsuki." Orochimaru grinned widely as his plan formulated solidly in his mind.

Naruto scowled down at him.

"I'm supposed to believe you're sad because your old comrades are dead?" Naruto spat. "You never cared about any of them."

"Perhaps not," admitted Orochimaru. "But sometimes they do come in handy. You have seen what I have been able to accomplish with the chakra of only one _bijuu_."

"You forced that chakra into those people," growled Naruto. "Do you even know what the chakra of a _bijuu_ can do to a human?"

Orochimaru suspected that Naruto knew from personal experience, and yet the young man stood before Orochimaru stronger than ever. Orochimaru affected a careless attitude and waved one hand through the air.

"They are not true _jinchuuriki_ anyway," he said. "They have less control over what they contain than you ever did, Naruto-_kun_."

Naruto looked offended at the reference, but he did not move. Orochimaru thought he saw the boy's knuckles tighten around his kunai, growing steadily whiter as Orochimaru continued to smile.

"You, I think, are the best example of what was meant to be," Orochimaru suggested. "You have the power within you to destroy an entire settlement and not leave a witness to betray you."

Naruto's knuckles were definitely white now.

"You are exactly what the Yondaime intended—" Orochimaru's eyes narrowed as he hissed in a breath through his teeth. "A perfect weapon."

Naruto surged to his feet, holding the kunai tightly in his fist.

"He _never_ intended that!" Naruto shouted down to Orochimaru. "He never saw _any_ of his family as weapons. Not me, not his teammates, not _anyone_!"

Personally, Orochimaru thought that view was rather naïve, but then Uzumaki Naruto had always been so. But slowly, Naruto was getting angry, which would cloud his judgment. Orochimaru didn't know how well he could handle a demon fox if Naruto decided to truly let go of his control, but he knew he could handle a hot-headed Konoha-nin.

"Then Yondaime was a fool," Orochimaru declared. "Such power as contained in a _bijuu_ can only be a weapon. Yondaime refused to see the potential you could have, Naruto-_kun,_ if he was so focused on his own naïve dreams."

Naruto still stood rigidly on the high branch. Orochimaru wondered how much it would take to snap the boy's resolve. With the way the Uzumaki defended Yondaime, Orochimaru wondered if Naruto was aware of his own bloodlines.

"He couldn't even create a _jinchuuriki_ without losing his own life," hissed Orochimaru softly. "Konoha's shortest-reigning Hokage, still a failure."

Orochimaru blinked, just once. And Naruto was gone.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke glanced above the canopy and saw the gathering dark clouds in the sky. None of his fireballs had even scorched Danzo; all of them had passed through the man as if he were a ghost.

"I see now," Sasuke declared, forcing Danzo to tear his attention away from his right arm.

"Do you?" Danzo asked lightly. He didn't sound at all bothered by the fact that Sasuke might have figured out his agenda.

"You discovered _Izanagi_."

Sasuke had only ever read about _Izanagi_ in his research on the Sharingan while he had been trying to discover the secrets of the Mangekyou. _Izanagi_ was a technique forbidden even among the Uchiha secret scrolls, but it basically was able to turn the body into a physical illusion at the cost of blinding the eye for every 60 seconds of use.

Danzo had ten Sharingan on his right arm, all but one of them closed — to say nothing of the eye implanted in his socket, the one he always kept covered. Sasuke knew enough about medical jutsu to know that any organ meant to act as a substitute had to be placed surgically inside the host body very soon after being harvested. Cells could not live outside the body without serious help. Since Sasuke hadn't read of any Sharingan eyes going missing on any missions in which an Uchiha had been a casualty, Danzo had to get his eyes at a time when many Uchiha eyes were available for harvest at the same time.

_The Uchiha Massacre_.

Danzo had already stated that Sasuke's father was responsible for planning a revolt against the Sandaime Hokage. Sasuke didn't know if that was true, but the massacre itself was problematic in that regard. If the Uchiha Clan were indeed traitors to Konoha, then Sandaime would have the right to expose them and sentence all those involved to death. By keeping the coup and its consequences secret, Danzo had the ability to manipulate the aftermath to his benefit. He probably had enough access to the bodies afterwards to harvest all the eyes he wanted.

So Danzo had not only ordered Itachi to kill Sasuke's clan, the man had desecrated the bodies after it was all finished. Sasuke glared at the man standing in the midst of the forest.

"So now you know all the Uchiha's dirty secrets," Danzo noted as Sasuke came to his realization.

Sasuke wanted to make some comment about how Danzo seemed to know his family's techniques very well for one not connected to the Uchiha, but he didn't know if he even wanted to defend his family any longer.

"It seems Senju Hashirama should have never formed his initial alliance with the Uchiha Clan," Danzo continued. "But I cannot fault his judgment. It would have been much harder to wipe out the clan if they were not a part of Konoha."

Sasuke crunched his molars together and thought his initial assessment was correct. Danzo was much more of a traitor to Konoha than Naruto was, as if whatever Naruto had done could count against the good of Konoha. Naruto had once sacrificed himself for the good of his village — to say nothing of Sasuke himself — while Danzo plotted to destroy Konoha's citizens from within.

"_You_ have destroyed part of what every shinobi of Konoha is entrusted to protect," Sasuke spat. He couldn't quite find it in himself to insult the man the way he knew Naruto would.

Danzo looked unbothered by the accusation.

"If there is blight on the tree," he said, "the diseased part must be cut away before it affects the entire plant. It was for the good of the village."

"For the good of the village," Sasuke repeated, his palms growing hot.

"The Uchiha have proven themselves to be untrustworthy without exception," declared Danzo. "They have discovered ways of perverting their own bloodline to create the ultimate powers, uncaring of the madness such techniques would drive them to."

Sasuke wanted to ask Danzo if he included himself in that statement, seeing as he was using techniques that the Uchiha themselves were forbidden to use. Sasuke glanced down at Danzo's right arm and saw two of the Sharingan eyes open. Silently, he cursed his own distraction. One of Danzo's stolen eyes had recovered in the time Sasuke had spent conversing with Danzo.

"You should know best the truth of this axiom, Uchiha Sasuke?"

Sasuke frowned at Danzo, puzzled, even as he channeled as much natural chakra to his drawn _kodachi_ as he dared to.

"You yourself sought power without thought to the consequences nor the risks," Danzo continued. "You are proof the Uchiha will always be traitors to any who dare to befriend them."

Enough of this. Sasuke raised his sword and quickly launched his _Chidori Senbon_ towards Danzo, making the number of Lightning needles larger than he usually did. Danzo did not move, as Sasuke predicted. As one of the Sharingan eyes closed, Danzo ripped through the seals for an attack. Sasuke dodged the wind bullet that emerged from Danzo's mouth and lifted a hand to his own mouth to blow out a stream of fire.

Danzo's final open Sharingan on his right arm closed as the _Gouryuuka_ passed through Danzo's body. Sasuke saw his chance and seized it. He jumped to plant his feet on a particularly high branch so that he could look out over the forest with Danzo down below him standing on the original wall of wood that interrupted the natural growth of the forest. Sasuke called up a handful of Lightning chakra as if he were readying his _Chidori_. Then he held his left hand aloft, toward the storm clouds overhead.

Sasuke felt it before it arrived, the charge in the air as he called the gathering lightning to himself. He felt the power of the lightning bolt zip down to his hand and focused on channeling the sheer power toward the man standing in the forest. The lightning zipped toward Danzo with deadly accuracy.

Suddenly, Sasuke's view of Danzo was blocked by a surge of wood yet again. The lightning ravaged the tree-like growth that emerged beside Danzo, which presented a much larger and easier target than a mere human. But Sasuke could still feel the chakra through the lightning bolt. And wood was a fair enough conductor of electricity to serve Sasuke's purpose. He directed the lightning using his Sharingan to trace the chakra in the growth of wood back to the natural chakra that existed within Danzo's body.

He was rewarded with the smell of burning flesh.

Sasuke dropped his left hand before the lightning could exhaust his chakra reserves and drain him as well. With the lightning gone, Sasuke could now smell fresh blood as well. He jumped to a lower branch to get a better view of his victim. The growth he had assumed was a defense looked more like a rather deformed tree. Sasuke almost thought he saw a face embedded within the thick trunk. Danzo crouched beside the new tree, his left hand barely grasping a bloody kunai as he clutched his empty, bloody left shoulder. Had the man cut off his own arm?

Sasuke dropped onto the solid path of wood that led to Danzo and walked forward calmly. Then, Danzo's head snapped up, and his Sharingan pierced Sasuke suddenly. Sasuke felt a throb at the front of his mind, almost like the realization that something was wrong, like the genjutsu battle he still remembered participating in with Itachi.

Sasuke had barely realized that Danzo's Sharingan had changed slightly, now looking like a four-pronged windmill shuriken, when Sasuke felt a twinge in his right eye. His eye suddenly felt like it was watering, like he was crying. As Sasuke watched, black flames sprouted over Danzo's body, fire that gave no light and yet it still burned. Danzo's screaming was the proof.

Sasuke felt suddenly and inexplicably weak. He lifted his hand to cover his right eye. His hand came away bloody.

**o0O0o**

Omoi drew his _jian_ back and held his left hand close to his face in a swordman's pose, with his first two fingers straightened and pointing in the same direction as his sword.

"These ones seem more determined than normal, _nii-chan_," said one of the identical figures before him.

His twin waved a hand carelessly through the air.

"It doesn't matter," the other Inashita stated. "They'll just take longer to die."

Omoi decided he didn't particularly like the way this conversation was going. Far too morbid for his tastes. He glanced to his side, where Karui was kneeling on the concrete of the roof beside him. She was panting slightly and the skin on her left leg was red and blistered.

"You all right?" Omoi asked shortly.

"Fine."

He wouldn't get a better answer than that, Omoi knew. He and Karui had been teammates ever since Bee-_sensei _had taken them both on as students, long enough for him to know when to push her and when to duck her outbursts of temper.

"We need to lure them in together," Karui declared. "One in front and one in back."

Omoi knew immediately what she had in mind, but he also knew that it wasn't a very well-thought out plan.

"My back will be exposed," he murmured, his lips barely moving.

"I'll guard your back."

It was enough. Omoi darted forward without nodding. Karui would understand simply by his actions. One of the Inashita brothers charged forward to meet Omoi's blade with a long, thin rope of eerie green chakra. Omoi blocked the attack, careful not to let the chakra touch his skin, as he heard the clash of blades behind him as well. Karui was at his back, dueling with the other brother who had somehow gotten imbued with a _bijuu_'s chakra.

For a while, it was almost like battling another _kenjutsu_ user — this parry and thrust between him and Inashita. But really, it was nothing like trying to battle Bee-_sensei_ when he was fighting full-out with his eight-sword style. Omoi had had a better teacher than this fake-_jinchuuriki_ had, he thought. Inashita abruptly pulled back for another lunge, and Omoi took his opportunity.

"_Kumo-Ryū Uragiri!_" he cried to let Karui know what he was doing.

Omoi swung his straight sword the full length of his arm, creating almost a half-circle in front of him. As expected, the Inashita in front of him leaned back to avoid being cut, but Omoi didn't stop. He let his momentum swing his body as he felt an arm wrap around his waist. Karui spun with him as Omoi kept his sword straight, sailing over Karui's head until the blade sunk into the ribcage of the Inashita she had been fighting.

Omoi's new opponent held up a hand to stop the sword from slicing him cleanly in half, but Omoi only smiled and shot out a hand, flat. He could feel his flesh searing as he struck the flat of his palm against the other man's chest. Then, Omoi drew back, pulling his sword out from the man's chest. The seal that Hatake-_san_ had given him, he left stuck on the man's bloody shirt.

Omoi watched the green chakra that surrounded the man flicker and falter as it withdrew slowly. The Inashita looked vaguely concerned about that.

"_Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu_."

Omoi recognized the name of the technique and jumped away from the man who was slowly bleeding out. As he bounded away, a white dog-like form took his place, racing for Inashita with a gaping jaw wide open. Inashita reached out a hand as if to command the Lightning creature to stop in its tracks. But the creature only continued until in enveloped Inashita's body in white, crooked beams of light. Inashita's muscles froze in spasms from the electricity, and the last of the green chakra disappeared.

Omoi kept his sword raised, but then Samui jumped in and caught Inashita's body with a sweep of her tanto. The man's neck was slit before his body ever hit the ground. Samui caught Omoi's eye and nodded. Satisfied that his captain had things under control, Omoi quickly turned his attention to the remaining enemy.

The living Inashita still had the glowing chakra surrounding his body. He, too, was using the extensions of his chakra like blades against Karui, who wasn't struggling to keep up with all of them.

"You killed _nii-san_," shouted the younger Inashita.

The man's eyes shone an unearthly white for a moment, like an animal's eyes caught in the dark. Then, a burst of chakra threw Karui off her feet and backwards. Omoi leaped to meet her mid-air and wrapped his free arm around her body so that he took the brunt of their fall back to the ground.

Samui kneel down and laid one hand flat on the concrete beneath her.

"_Raiton: Jibashi_."

The course of lightning flowed through the rock in ripples. It extended down the wall of the building Samui stood on and across the street, up the next wall to wrap around the green humanoid with three tail-like appendages behind him. Omoi roughly pushed Karui off of him and scrambled to his feet. They had to find a way to help—

"Samui-_san_, keep holding him!"

Omoi looked down the street and saw Hatake-_san_ standing on top of a pile of dirt that Omoi suspected had once been the earthen wall they had all hid behind. Hatake's hands were just in front of his chin in a meditative pose, but only one of his eyes was open. Omoi had to look very carefully before he saw the way Hatake's pupil was changing shape. The black parts were merging together and spinning ever so slowly.

"Look!" Karui pointed up to Inashita with her _jian_.

Omoi's head snapped back around to see the air around Inashita's head compressing, as if it were being sucked in a whirlpool in mid-air. Inashita shook his head from side to side like a beast, and his arms strained against the bonds of lightning around him.

Omoi plunged the tip of his sword into the ground by his feet. With one hand on the handle of his sword, Omoi ran through one-handed seals with the other until his jutsu mimicked Samui's.

"_Raidton: Jibashi_."

Omoi felt the lightning plot a specific course through the hard ground and up the side of the building, joining Samui's in binding the enraged Inashita. Soon, Karui's chakra joined both of theirs. Inashita could not move.

Setting his jaw firmly against the strain of chakra drain, Omoi watched as the whirlpool in the air shrank to include Inashita. The beast-like face twisted into a spiral. The spiral got tighter and tighter, until it seemed like Inashita's head would rip right off of his body. Then, inexplicably, it collapsed on itself, like water down a drain, and a headless body fell to the rooftop with a sloppily severed neck as the only remnant of the spiral.

Omoi cut off his jutsu abruptly and pulled his sword from the ground. He looked over to Hatake again to find the man bent over with one hand on his knee while the other covered his left eye. He looked suddenly tired.

"You took off his head?" Karui said in a disgusted tone.

Omoi had to admit that he was almost impressed. Hatake didn't even have to touch his opponent to decapitate him. But it obviously cost him a good deal of power to use.

"_Aa._" Hatake straightened and slowly removed his hand from his eye. "My aim's gotten better since I first could use that jutsu."

"What jutsu?" Omoi asked, because he was curious.

Hatake looked at the two Kumo-nin as the colors in his eye shifted again.

"_Kamui_."

**o0O0o**

Danzo gasped and tried not to focus on the sensation of his skin peeling back from his bones. Then, as suddenly as the black flames had appeared, they vanished, leaving Danzo struggling to breathe as the very air around him pained his burnt skin.

He was lying on his back on a plank of wood, but he managed to lift his head just enough to look down the wood to his opponent. Uchiha Sasuke stood no more than two meters from Danzo, his stance slightly uncertain as he held his palm against his right eye while his left stared at Danzo's ruined body. Uchiha walked forward again and pulled his hand away from his face slowly. Danzo remained silent as Uchiha stood over him and froze.

"It seems your borrowed implants are no match for a real Uchiha."

The boy looked down at Danzo. His eyes were red with a tri-pronged kaleidoscope design spinning slowly in their centers. Blood streamed like tears from his right eye.

"Mangekyou?" Danzo breathed. "How . . ?"  
He was sure that Uchiha Sasuke had never performed the required steps necessary to awaken a Mangekyou level of his Sharingan. And yet, Danzo was equally sure that the black flames that had ravaged his body had been a result of the Amaterasu technique only available to Mangekyou users. Perhaps that explained his current state. Danzo had been sure that Uchiha Shisui's _Kotoamatsukami_ would be his salvation if he could only convince Uchiha Sasuke not to kill him.

Uchiha lifted the _kodachi_ in his right hand as the blade danced with the blue light of _Raiton_.

"I may have betrayed Konoha with my actions," said Uchiha. "I did hurt those who called themselves my friends. But I will never betray the one who pulled me out of the darkness."

Danzo couldn't acknowledge Uchiha's words, even if he knew — vaguely — what they meant. It seemed Uchiha was as loyal to Uzumaki as Uzumaki was to the Uchiha boy. Danzo could only close his eyes and hope that Uzumaki would never become Hokage as the boy had always foolishly dreamed. He almost dreaded to think what would happen then with Uzumaki as the leader of one of the most powerful shinobi villages in the world and Uchiha as his loyal shinobi. Those two would shake the foundations of the ninja world.

Danzo felt the blade pierce his burnt flesh, recognized the burst of pain that came directly from his heart, and then he surrendered to the darkness.

**o0O0o**

Naruto was getting really sick of Orochimaru's voice. All the talk of _bijuu_ and power and weapons, Naruto thought he could handle. After all, he knew how wrong Orochimaru was. But when the snake-man had started talking about Namikaze Minato as if he had been a failure, Naruto decided he really needed to cut out the snake's vocal cords.

As Orochimaru stood and declared the Yondaime a fool for giving his life for his son, Naruto stood stock still on his perch and stretched out his senses. There— he could still feel the faint signature of his own kunai still in Orochimaru's possession. This was going to be hard, but Naruto dropped out of his sage mode in preparation for what he was about to do. The fox's chakra wouldn't work with the natural _senjutsu_ Naruto relied on.

Without moving, Naruto concentrated on the _Hiraishin_ kunai and forced his body to move to the seal. It was a strange sensation. He had never jumped this way with his eyes open before. For a moment, he thought he had been blinded by the chakra that was required for the transportation jutsu, but then he was in front of Orochimaru.

Naruto saw Orochimaru's eyes widen in sheer shock at the same time he felt a sharp pain shoot through his chest. Ignoring the pain for now, Naruto raised his right hand and jabbed his weapon into Orochimaru's left shoulder, driving the kunai in so deeply that he pinned Orochimaru to the tree behind him. Orochimaru sputtered a mouthful of blood out from the force of his back against the tree and hung his head loosely on a neck that didn't seem to support the weight of his head.

"How?" Orochimaru struggled to hiss out.

Naruto drew back his left hand from the cloth pouch attached to Orochimaru's hip. He held the _Hiraishin_ kunai in front of his face.

"You shouldn't steal other people's things, _hebi-teme_," said Naruto through gritted teeth. That pain in his chest was getting a little more annoying now.

Then, Orochimaru lifted his eyes once again to Naruto and smiled through the blood.

"You seem to have missed my heart, Naruto-_kun_."

Naruto finally looked down at his own body. A long straight sword slid through his chest, two inches or so below his right collarbone.

"So did you, _bakayarou_."

The sword seemed to be attached to Orochimaru's left arm, which meant the man had been raising it while Naruto jumped. In the blink of an eye, Orochimaru didn't have the time to pierce his true target of Naruto's heart.

Suddenly, a brown snake shot out of Orochimaru's right sleeve, rearing up its head like a cobra poised to strike. Naruto knocked Orochimaru's hand up with his wrist and drove the kunai he had stolen back through both the snake's body and Orochimaru's wrist. Orochimaru grit his teeth against the attack. He had to be weaker than normal if that was the best he could do, but Naruto knew he had to finish this quickly.

"So," Orochimaru coughed wetly, "what will you do now, Naruto-_kun_? Bite me to death?"

"Bleah." Naruto stuck out his tongue in a disgusted face that belonged on Mako or Kaito, not an adult. "I'd probably get food poisoning."

Naruto kept his eyes closed just long enough to find the lines he never wanted himself to cross and forcefully pull out the chakra he needed. He snapped his eyes open again, knowing what Orochimaru would see: crimson eyes with pupils slit like a wild animal's.

"I'll just kill you here," declared Naruto.

Naruto couldn't feel the effects of the red cloak of chakra that slowly wrapped around his body from the inside out, but it appeared Orochimaru could.

"What are you doing?" Orochimaru's eyes grew wider as the red chakra continued to grow. "Are you going to destroy your entire village?"

"You don't know what I'm capable of." Naruto narrowed his eyes into a hateful glare. "You're the only one who's going to die here."

As the Kyuubi's chakra grew and shaped itself into a sphere around the branch, Naruto heard Orochimaru screaming in his ears. It was kind of good to know the bastard still feared some things. Naruto's hands were red and wet with blood that seeped from every one of his pores. Naruto closed his eyes, but he could smell the sharp, sickening scent of burning flesh and hair.

Orochimaru wouldn't survive this. And even if Naruto couldn't fight anymore, he knew the village would be all right. Mako and Kaito were good kids; they would take care of Mei. And he had gotten to see all his friends once again, to see them on his side, fighting along with him to defend their home and all the precious people within it. Naruto had no regrets.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke tore through the forest, ignoring the way his right eye still throbbed and his leg wouldn't respond immediately to his commands. He supposed the drug Sakura had given him was burning its way through his system faster than usual with all the chakra he had used up already. But he was still determined in his quest toward the west, where Naruto was still battling.

His blade was still drawn, slightly damp from Danzo's blood, when Sasuke saw a figure in a red and black coat and absurdly bright hair running across tree branches in his direction.

"Sasuke!" Naruto drew to a halt on the branch where Sasuke paused just long enough for Naruto to catch up.

"I'm all right," Sasuke growled, cutting off any demands for information about health or wellness that he knew were coming. "Danzo's dead."

Naruto's blue eyes widened until Sasuke was sure they were popping out of his head. Then, with a more subdued look, Naruto reached up and tapped his own face just underneath his right eye.

"You're bleeding," he noted.

Sasuke swiped at the drying blood on his face with his free hand impatiently.

"Never mind," he ordered. "Where's Orochimaru?"

Naruto didn't answer; he just cast a quick glance over his shoulder that smacked of guilt or nerves. Sasuke took the look to be answer enough.

"Don't tell me you couldn't kill the snake yourself," Sasuke scoffed as he pushed past Naruto.

"Sasuke, wait!"

Sasuke heard the call, but he didn't bother to wait for Naruto to catch up. Danzo was no longer an issue, so he and Naruto would kill Orochimaru. It wasn't as if Sasuke was low on experience. Naruto would probably need his help, the idiot.

As Sasuke passed through a section of the forest that had been destroyed — flattened by a giant toad, no doubt — he felt an increasing amount of pressure bearing down on him. This was almost like what Sasuke felt every time before _Kirin_; like a tangible amount of chakra was about to explode in his face.

Suddenly, Naruto vaulted over Sasuke's head and landed directly in Sasuke's path.

"Sasuke, stop!"

Naruto planted both his hands on Sasuke's shoulders to hold him back physically from going any further. His eyes seemed determined, as hard as they had ever been when Naruto had declared that he wasn't giving up on Sasuke or he wasn't going to run away from protecting his precious people.

But then, Sasuke's eyes wandered past Naruto's shoulder to a thick branch low on the largest tree within eyesight. With his Sharingan, Sasuke could just make out the sight of Orochimaru standing with a long _chokuto_ in his hand. In front of the man, a blade through his chest and sticking out his back, was a figure in a black and red coat and bright, sunshine-y hair. Sasuke scoffed as he turned back to Naruto.

"Are your clones having a contest?" he demanded. "Seeing which one of them can die the most often?"

As Sasuke met Naruto's eyes once again, he realized that the determination had leaked out of them, replaced by a kind of sad resignation. A look like that didn't belong on Naruto's face and made Sasuke dread what Naruto had just found out due to his clones. Surely, he would get the information as soon as the clone in front of Orochimaru's sword dispelled.

"Sasuke," Naruto said slowly, "that one's not a clone."

Sasuke's eyes widened as his gaze darted from the figure of Naruto standing right in front him to the identical figure standing in front of Orochimaru, clutching a kunai that pierced Orochimaru's arm even as the sword ran through his torso. Then, a hand gripped his tightly and tried to turn him the opposite direction.

"Go back."

Naruto's voice sounded in his ear. Which was impossible, because Naruto was bleeding out from a sword wound. And it seemed wrong to have Naruto stabbed through without Sasuke being in front of him.

"Stupid _teme_, come on!"

A warm hand planted itself between his shoulder blades and shoved. Seeing a red and black coat running beside him made it easy to stop thinking and just run, but then the pounding adrenaline singing through Sasuke's veins faded just enough for him to realize that he was running the wrong way.

"Wait!" he called to the clone ahead of him.

Without waiting for a response, Sasuke bolted upwards into a large tree just on the edge of the forest, near Konoha's western wall. Perched on a large branch close to the canopy, Sasuke trained his eyes to the clearing at least a kilometer away, where he could still see Naruto and Orochimaru locked together by virtue of sword and knife.

"Sasuke."

The call was so soft that Sasuke had to turn just to make sure his imagination wasn't playing tricks on him. He _had_ run out of the hospital awfully fast after being poisoned. But the clone of Naruto, with blue eyes and a soft look on its face, stood beside him.

"Whatever you do, stay far enough away."

"Away from what?" Sasuke demanded.

But the clone disappeared in a cloud of smoke, leaving Sasuke with the feeling that he had been speaking to a ghost. Bewildered, he turned back to where Naruto truly was, fighting Orochimaru. He felt his eyes burn with the force of the chakra he kept flowing through his Sharingan, but it enabled him to see the cloud of red mist that slowly surrounded Naruto.

No, that wasn't mist, Sasuke realized suddenly. It was chakra. Red, malevolent chakra that Sasuke had only seen a few times before — always in association with the demon locked away inside Naruto. Naruto's own words came back to echo in Sasuke's ear.

_"I took the fox's chakra and wrapped it around me, like I was the center of Rasengan. Then I just . . . pushed."_

Sasuke watched in horror as the red chakra started to spin around Naruto, slowly expanding to encapsulate Orochimaru as well until both of them were hidden by the swirling globe of red chakra that grew ever larger.

**o0O0o**

"What the hell—"

The cry was more shocked than horrified, but it was enough to make Tsunade's attention snap back to the immediate present. The chuunin beside Shukaku was pointing out the large windows behind Tsunade's desk, his attention directed toward the west. Tsunade followed his finger and saw a glow of red in the forest below the storm clouds. For a moment, she thought the forest was actually on fire, but then Tsunade realized there were no flames to go along with the crimson glow.

"This feeling . . ." Shikaku stared out the window without finishing his sentence.

Fed up with her staff and their inability to make complete sentences, Tsunade threw open the wide doors that led to the rounded balcony overlooking her village. As soon as she stepped fully into the charged air, she could feel it. An overpowering chakra heated the very atmosphere around her as the glow grew to the proportions of a far away sunset. The rounded edge of a crimson sphere rose just beyond the canopy of the forest, carrying with it a strange feeling in Tsunade's gut — like she had just lost her entire savings as well as several internal organs to a debt collector.

Even though Tsunade hadn't felt anything even remotely like the dreaded, oppressive chakra in years, a part of her still recognized what she was seeing. Something that resembled a force of nature more than any kind of beast, capable of mass destruction with a swipe of its tail or flash of its paw, and something that had always been tied to either the Senju or the Uzumaki line. Carried within a human being.

"Kyuubi?" she murmured.

"Hokage-_sama_!" The voice of the attendant outside the double doors interrupted any further thoughts of Tsunade. "Someone to see you."

Her attendant, whose real purpose was to introduce guests, was a young woman from the Yamanaka clan, a few years younger than Ino. Besides — or perhaps because of — their tendency toward mental jutsu, the Yamanaka were often good at reading people and their intentions. It was a good way to let another person get a first impression on foreigners coming to visit the Hokage. But now the young Yamanaka sounded half surprised and half exuberant. The only thing Tsunade could think of was that more reinforcements had arrived, but Temari had said they were the only ones—

_ "Oi! _Hokage-_ba__a-chan!_" The boy who burst into the Hokage's Office was apparently unworried about his manners or the many guards that surrounded the Hokage herself.

Tsunade was momentarily distracted by the title.

_ "Baa-chan_?" Her temple throbbed. "You little brat—"

But Mako only raised his right hand and jerked his thumb over his shoulder to indicate the ragged bunch of kids that trailed after him while his left hand stayed where it was, keeping Kaito's arm slung around Mako's shoulder in place.

"We got 'em here!" Mako declared triumphantly.

Tsunade fell silent as she surveyed the kids behind Mako and Kaito, Naruto's two oldest students. The kids ranged in age from nearly-genin-age to much younger. One of the boys looked like a snotty-nosed six-year-old Tsunade had seen before walking into the Academy doors. The identity of the group of children slammed into Tsunade suddenly.

"Us and these students got separated from Iruka-_sensei_ in town," Mako explained, oblivious of Tsunade's sudden revelation. "We couldn't find the way to the Mountain, so we came here. So, you got a tunnel or something in here?"

Both the chuunin and jounin were gaping at him by the time he was done. The jounin looked surprised and relieved, while the chuunin was a bit more flabbergasted. Tsunade could understand the abject shock from the chuunin. It wasn't quite every day in Konoha that a very new genin tromped into the Hokage's office leading a slew of kids as if they were a child army.

Besides that, Mako's demands for a tunnel showed that he was in complete control of the situation. He knew where he needed to be, but instead of panicking upon the separation, he had gotten all the younger kids to a point of safety and then acted as if he was determined to lead them even further to where they were supposed to be in the first place. He wasn't even turning the kids over to one of the chuunin or jounin within the Tower. He was determined to carry out his mission.

Tsunade wondered if Mako had learned that from Naruto or if the boy was simply determined to prove himself to a village that had adopted him, as well as the place that his _sensei_ loved.

Before Tsunade could order the chuunin to take the Academy students—as well as Naruto's three kids—somewhere safer and out of the way, Kaito suddenly lurched forward. The boy didn't make it far; it looked like his left leg refused to support his weight properly.

"Hey!" Mako shouted as he jumped forward to stand alongside Kaito. "Where d'ya think you're goin', _baka_?"

Mako quickly pulled Kaito to a standing position again, trying to get his friend to lean his weight on Mako again. But Kaito's eyes were fixed firmly on the large window that faced west.

_ "Sensei," _Kaito murmured for Mako's ears only.

Mako followed Kaito's wide eyes to the window. It was hard to miss the still-growing sphere of red chakra.

"That's _sensei_?" Mako's voice was much less subdued than Kaito's had been. "What the hell is he doing?"

"_Kamikaze_."

Tsunade frowned at the unfamiliar name. She had heard of the divine wind that was supposed to descend from the gods, of course, but she doubted that Naruto really paid much attention to mythology. Besides, from the way Mako's jaw dropped as he turned his face back to Kaito, Tsunade guessed that this _kamikaze_ wasn't anything beneficial.

"That's _Kamikaze_?"

Tsunade had to strain to hear Mako now, but she could still discern the abject fear in his voice.

This couldn't be good. But Tsunade could only deal with what was directly in front of her. She turned to the chuunin standing beside Shukaku.

"Take the kids downstairs," Tsunade ordered the chuunin.

They didn't have anyone to spare to take the students up the steep steps on the face of the Mountains to the caverns that served as bunkers in Konoha. But younger ones would be much safer on the ground level than in the Hokage's office. Not to mention less in the way.

"Wait!" cried Mei as the kids around her started obediently for the door.

Mei dashed around the chuunin that lunged for her, dodging the outstretched hands with all the expertise of a kid used to running away. Tsunade almost blamed Naruto for that before she remembered that Mei had been a war orphan before Naruto had ever gotten to her. Kids could pick things up quickly when they needed to.

Mei skittered around Tsunade, eyeing the woman warily, and attached herself to the Hokage desk, literally. By the time Tsunade thought to stop her, Mei had her arms wrapped around Tsunade's chair and her ankles hooked around the legs. Tsunade doubted that anyone less than Naruto could pry her off.

"Mei-_chan,_" Kaito called as he stumbled after the young girl.

"I'm not leaving without _sensei_!" Mei screwed up her eyes as she shouted.

Tsunade felt her eyebrows knit together over the seal in the center of her forehead and wondered just what a Hokage was supposed to do in this situation. She glanced back at the two boys. Some of the Academy kids looked very uncertain whether they should stay or go while most of the younger ones were nothing but eager to follow the chuunin and leave the little girl to her tantrum.

Mako, meanwhile, was rooted to his spot. Tsunade saw his eyes fixed on the window just beyond Tsunade, his gaze intense. He had to know that his _sensei_ was somewhere out there, doing something that was apparently causing Mako some degree of distress. Mako looked torn between carrying out his responsibility to the kids behind him and racing out to meet his _sensei_ in battle and stand beside him.

Tsunade already knew that wasn't a good idea.

Beside Mako, Kaito looked practically mutinous. Tsunade didn't doubt that Kaito _would_ jump out of the room and stand next to Naruto if it hadn't been for his obviously injured leg. Tsunade lifted her eyes up to the chuunin who hovered over the kids by the doorway.

"Take the Academy students downstairs," she repeated. "And send someone up here who can perform first aid. I have at least two genin who have minor injuries."

She hadn't missed the bloody bandages tied off half-heartedly around Mako's left arm. As easy as it would be for Tsunade to fix it, she couldn't afford distractions quite yet.

Mei's eyes narrowed into a glare as Tsunade glanced at her again and then pointed a long finger at Mako.

"You and your little band can stay," she muttered. "As long as you stay out of trouble."

Eyes wide, Mako nodded eagerly.

"We're good at that," he declared.

Tsunade didn't really want to wonder why Kaito was scoffing behind her. Satisfied that Mako and Kaito would remain where they were until they got some sort of medical attention, Tsunade turned back to the window, glancing at Mei as she did. The girl had released her death grip on Tsunade's chair, but she didn't look any less determined to stay.

The glow on the western horizon grew larger as Tsunade marched out to the balcony overlooking her village. Naruto had made his kids wards of the village, hadn't he? Was he anticipating something like this? Did he think he could just leave and the kids wouldn't miss him at all?

In all the stories about the hero who was the Yondaime Hokage of Konoha and how he had stopped the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_ in its tracks, Tsunade thought, everyone spoke of the man's bravery and dedication to his village. No one ever spoke of what he had left behind.

**o0O0o**

"I'm scared!" a child cried inside the dim light of the cavern within Hokage Mountain.

"Don't worry," Iruka said with a smile he hoped the kid could see.

Perhaps it would have been a good idea to keep Kiba and Shino with him while he darted up to the safe hiding place just behind the ANBU headquarters, but Iruka knew that his two former students would be needed elsewhere, not babysitting Academy students.

Although Kiba might have been extremely helpful with Haru. The six-year-old was one of the Inuzuka kunoichi-hopefuls to come through the Academy, and she was chomping at the bit to go out of the cavern with her small companion, Ookami, and kick some butt. Never mind the fact that she was well under half the size all of her opponents would be. Maybe Kiba, with all the authority of a clan member _and_ a jounin, would have been able to convince her to stay still. Her antics were making the other students nervous.

Suddenly, all the hair on Iruka's arms stood on end. He wasn't even sure what had caused it until he tore his attention from the students and cast his meager senses beyond the stone that separated him and his students from the outside world.

"Something's out there!" Jirou cried with one finger pointing shakily toward the entrance of the cave.

"It's okay," crooned Moegi, who had at least three first-year students attached to her limbs. "We're safe inside the Mountain. All the Hokage faces will scare the bad guys away."

Her smile calmed some of the students while Udon made funny faces at some of the other kids, apparently pretending to be a stern and vicious ghost of a Hokage. Konohamaru, though, was ignoring his teammates as he stood in the dry, dim cave and crept silently toward the entrance, where two other chuunin stood guard.

"What do you see, Konohamaru-_kun_?" Iruka called.

He didn't doubt that something _was_ still out in the village. Iruka could feel the wave of _sakki_ that had washed across the air so harshly that he could feel it even within the mountain. Konohamaru's voice came from beyond a curve in the cavern, leading to the entrance.

"_Sensei_, I think you need to see this."

Iruka stood immediately, more anxious because of Konohamaru's scared and timid tone than anything he had encountered yet. Not even the man in the kimono who had the chakra of a _bijuu_ had made Konohamaru sound that nervous. Iruka rounded the corner to look out the entrance. The rock that usually covered the gaping mouth of the cavern by virtue of a _Doton_ jutsu was absent, and the two chuunin guards stood in the open doorway with Konohamaru just behind them, frozen in place. Iruka stood beside Konohamaru and surveyed the scene.

The village below them was more or less intact. A few places looked particularly devastated, littered with rubble and smoke, but the main areas of damage were the center street, south of the Hokage Tower, and the eastern wall, near the Academy. When Iruka turned his eyes the other direction, though, he saw what had everyone transfixed.

The sky to the west was thick with clouds, like a thunderstorm about to burst. And just below the clouds, the forest was turning red. Iruka felt the chakra before he saw the visible glow of crimson energy, a chakra he had last felt on a night when he had screamed his throat raw for parents that could no longer answer.

"Iruka-_sensei_," Konohamaru's voice seemed so far away, "what is that?"

Iruka knew what it was. It had to be the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_. But the _Kyuubi _couldn't be free because its host was already dead. But hadn't Kiba said that Konohamaru could see Naruto again if he lived through the attack? Which meant that the source of that evil chakra was—

"Naruto."

"What?" Konohamaru snapped his head around at Iruka's breathy whisper. "That can't be _nii-chan_! He died protecting the village."

Iruka glanced at the teenager beside him uncertainly. Konohamaru didn't know about Naruto's status of a _jinchuuriki_. Iruka knew that Naruto's peers did; most of them had figured it out without anyone having to break the Sandaime's law, but no one had told the younger ones the reason behind so many people's hatred of the _Kyuubi _orphan. As if Naruto had been the only one to become an orphan that night.

Either way, Iruka didn't want to launch into a lengthy explanation of how he _knew_ that had to be Naruto out there. Never mind that he had no idea how to refute the argument that Naruto had already died.

"I'm sure everything will become clear." Iruka tried to don his classroom voice, the one he used when handing out assignment that _had _to be completed or else. "Right now, we have to protect those entrusted to our care."

Konohamaru glanced over his shoulder, back into the cave. His face fell, although Iruka wasn't sure if he was more disappointed that he had to baby-sit the students with Iruka or angry that Iruka wouldn't give him a clear answer about Naruto. Iruka only hoped that he hadn't lied to Konohamaru and determined that one way or another he _was_ going to get some answers when the battle was over and done with.

**o0O0o**

"He is dead," Shino announced.

"Good riddance," Kiba spat toward the human remains in a large crater in the center of the street.

Yamato nearly shook his head at both of them, but then decided it wasn't really worth it. He hadn't cared any more for their opponent than Kiba and Shino had.

Suddenly, a hot breath of air made the hairs on the back of Yamato's arms all stand on end. He could feel the chakra that washed over his as if it were a physical blanket.

"Great!" Kiba raised his hands in front of him in an aggressive pose. "Don't tell me there's another one!"

Yamato only searched around their small band for the source of the chakra. It didn't feel quite the same as the man they had just been fighting. This feeling was more concentrated and more powerful.

"No," breathed Shino.

Kiba glanced at his teammate as if he was waiting for Shino to continue, but it seemed that Shino had fallen silent. Then, Yamato's eyes caught sight of a red glow on the horizon, like the color of a sunset over water. With a sinking feeling, Yamato realized what he was feeling.

"That is not one of Orochimaru's," he murmured.

"What?"

Kiba spun around, looking very frustrated with all the half-answers. But then, he faced toward the west with Yamato and stared up at the red sky.

"Naruto?" he called, barely a breath louder than a whisper.

Yamato's mind raced even as he checked the palm of his hand. There was no sign indicating that the _jinchuuriki_ of _Kyuubi_ had released his hold on any of _Kyuubi_'s nine tails. And yet, he remembered clearly this feeling of burning pressure, of killing intent so severe that it seemed to choke the life out of the very trees.

"Are we needed here any longer?" Yamato demanded of Kiba swiftly.

"No," Kiba all but growled.

In a flash, Kiba leaped from the ground to the nearest roof and vaulted toward the western edge of the village with Shino following quickly after. Yamato followed their path. If Naruto was an agent of Orochimaru's, Yamato may have been the only one who could stop him. And if Naruto wasn't an agent of Orochimaru and he was losing control . . .

That meant Naruto had to be alive, didn't it?

**o0O0o**

Kakashi heard the thunder before he felt the shift in the air. His first thought was that it was only a by-product of the oncoming storm, but this didn't feel like a natural pressure in the air.

"Samui-_taichou_!" Karui pointed with her straight sword toward the west, making Kakashi face the same direction. He saw the red glow just below the clouds and recognized the chakra before anyone could say anything more.

"What's that?" Omoi asked, a little more wariness than curiosity in his tone.

"It feels almost like Bee-_sensei_," answered Karui.

Kakashi's mind worked quickly to identify "Bee-_sensei_" as Kirabi, the Yondaime Raikage's brother who also held the position as _jinchuuriki_ of the _Hachibi no Ushi-Oni_. Apparently he and Naruto had somehow formed a friendship in Naruto's absence, according to what Sasuke had to say after his brief visit to Kumo. Kakashi wondered just how much Kumo knew about the man who lived behind Raiden's mask.

"No," Samui answered her teammate. "That's Raiden."

_Naruto_. That was Naruto, and that chakra was _Kyuubi_. Kakashi glanced over to Samui with his regular eye squeezed shut so that it wouldn't throw off his sense of perception.

"Have you ever seen him in this form, Samui-_san_?" Kakashi held out a bit of hope that Naruto knew what he was doing, perhaps something that he had learned from his fellow _jinchuuriki_—

"No." Samui kept her focus on the red glow for a moment more.

As Kakashi turned his attention back to the west, the chakra outside of Konoha seemed to change. It wasn't just that _Kyuubi_'s chakra was being used, he realized. The crimson chakra was forming a shape, a dome that was slowly expanding over the top of the canopy. Kakashi nearly opened both his eyes when he remembered: _Kamikaze_. Naruto was using _Kyuubi'_s chakra as if he were performing a Rasengan that encased his full body.

But Naruto had said that jutsu was extremely damaging. And Kakashi himself knew the effects it would have on any victims within the area. He had read the reports on Asahi. What was Naruto planning, letting so much of _Kyuubi_'s influence out when it would be sure to cut off his lifespan? But then, Naruto had always been willing to give his life in defense for those he considered precious to him.

Naruto had wanted his kids to be wards of Konoha in case he had to die.

Kakashi closed his Sharingan eye and opened his regular one as he turned to Samui swiftly. The squad captain from Kumo was already looking at Kakashi, and he had to take a moment to adjust to the sudden shift in his chakra reserves. He was already drained from using _Kamui_.

"Once we are finished with the bodies," Samui said, gesturing to where Omoi and Karui were tying the twin corpses into bundles, "we will report to your Hokage with the results of our battle."

She was giving him an out. Kakashi wasn't that surprised that she could read his desire to join whatever conflict was going on outside Konoha's walls.

"Ah, I trust you know the way." Kakashi allowed his eye to crinkle, the only sign of his friendly smile.

"Of course, Hatake-_san_." Samui nodded without a glance at her teammates.

Kakashi didn't even wave them off as he jumped onto the roofs of the village, following a path that would bring him to the western edge of the wall surrounding Konoha quickly.

**o0O0o**

Neji's eyes tracked the tunnel under the ground that led from the main road down and under the gate that led into the village behind him.

"It's all quiet, _taichou_," he reported to the ANBU captain beside him.

"Good." Saru-_taichou_ raised her hand in a quick signal to the rest of the team to join them both on the top of the main gate to Konoha.

Below them, no one was fighting any longer. Various figures in white aprons scurried about the remains of the battlefield, tending to shinobi who lacked the strength or the consciousness to get up themselves.

"The _iryou-nin_ Corps will need help getting the wounded to the hospital," Saru-_taichou_ noted before she turned back to the four-man ANBU team. "Two of you will have to stay here while—"

Neji felt the reason Saru had ended her sentence so abruptly immediately. As one, the entire ANBU team looked just to the northwest. Beneath the gray clouds that rumbled above them, a red glow colored the sky. Neji quickly activated his _doujutsu_ behind his mask and stared into the forest. He could see the cause for the crimson glow. It was a sphere made entirely of chakra. He could see the way the chakra circled around and around the circumference of the sphere like a gyroscope with thousands of axes. Neji's eyes strained as he peered through the chakra itself to the center of the sphere. Two figures were locked, unmoving, at the very center of the red chakra. One had a chakra system that looked very familiar.

"What the _hell_ is that?" Inu spat out.

Neji eased up on his eyes for a moment and saw that the sphere had quickly grown to such proportions that it was clearly visible above the canopy of the forest.

"That chakra . . ." began Saru-_taichou_, "belongs to the _Kyuubi no Kitsune_."

Well, Neji knew that already. A part of him wondered how on earth Naruto had ended up in that position when Neji had last seen him trying to find Uchiha Sasuke. On sheer reflex, Neji scowled at the thought, but he doubted that Sasuke was responsible for such a large break in Naruto's control over his own seal.

"That can't be," said Uchi. "The host was killed."

Neji wasn't quite sure he liked Naruto being referred to as simply a "host," but Uchi would surely recognize something like that. The man had been in ANBU longer than anyone else on the team, even Saru-_taichou_.

"Orochimaru has been known to call back the dead," Saru-_taichou_ said thoughtfully.

When Neji realized what the ANBU captain suspected, he felt all the muscles in his legs tense. It was a logical thought, given what Saru-_taichou_ thought she knew about Naruto, but her thoughts were wrong. She was thinking of Naruto as an enemy.

"Quickly."

The captain gave the signal to move out. Neji was already two feet ahead of everyone else when Saru-_taichou_ turned to him.

"Tori, you stay here."

"No," Neji answered immediately. He was the only one to know that the host of the _Kyuubi_ wasn't as dead as they thought. "I must—"

"I gave you an order, didn't I?" Saru-_taichou_ interrupted firmly.

Neji stood his ground, his fists clenched by his sides.

_ "Taichou_, my eyes—"

"Will be better suited to working alone," his captain finished for him. "Your range makes up for the partner you won't have."

Neji could feel his fingernails dig through the thin fabric of his gloves and into his palms.

"Relax, _tori_." Inu tapped Neji on the shoulder. The man was only a few years older than Neji was and took to acting like Neji was a friend more often than naught. "We'll take care of the enemy. Leave the loser to us."

Neji stood frozen as his teammates took off, directly for the sphere of red chakra. He couldn't remember ever wanting to disobey a direct command. Respect for authority and proper manners were drilled into him too deeply; he had never dared disrespect Gai, either, even when he secretly wasn't impressed by the man. Neji tightened his fists once more as he stared after his team.

"He is _not_ a loser," he whispered.

He didn't even know if Inu had been referring to Orochimaru or to the host he believed to be a puppet. Really, Neji was only protesting it if Inu believed the latter. Naruto could never be a loser.

**o0O0o**

"Is this going to be a habit with you?"

Shikamaru rolled his eyes at Temari as Baki knelt down on the ground next to Chouji, opposite of where Ino was still working, although less furiously than she had been. The worst of the danger was passed, and all that was left was to make sure there was no permanent damage to Chouji. With Ino distracted, Shikamaru fished his cigarettes out of his front pocket and placed one of the sticks into his mouth as his free hand lifted an old lighter to his mouth. Temari watched his actions but didn't berate him like Ino would have if she had been paying attention.

"Thanks," Shikamaru muttered around his lit cigarette, the smoke tickling his nose slightly.

He hardly needed to say more than that. It was a long-standing arrangement that Shikamaru would be the only one of the two of them to express any gratitude. Temari only scoffed, which was expected. Then, a streak of light seemed to break through the clouds that darkened the sky overhead. Shikamaru almost thought that the sunset had appeared beyond the thunderstorm, but then he felt the pressure, like _sakki_ radiating on his back.

Amid the silence that suddenly pervaded the atmosphere of the ruined battlefield on Konoha's east side, Shikamaru looked directly up to the sky. The clouds were still gathering, laced now with bony fingers of lightning. But there in the west, a red glow emanated from just beyond the village of Konoha. Shikamaru frowned and jumped toward what was left of Konoha's eastern wall.

"Shikamaru!"

"Stay with Chouji," Shikamaru called over his shoulder to Ino. It wasn't like she needed to see this if it really was what Shikamaru thought it was.

He reached the top of the concrete wall and surveyed the village quickly. The real point of interest, though, was the red dome on the other side of the village. The pressure was greater now that the jutsu or chakra or _whatever_ that was laid directly in his view.

"You can't help him," spoke a voice just beside Shikamaru.

Shikamaru turned and frowned when he saw Temari standing on the wall next to him. The woman could be sneaky when she wanted to be.

"What?"

Shikamaru may not have been on the mission that had eventually returned Uchiha Sasuke to Konoha, but he had heard about it. And he had seen the flickers of red chakra escaping from Naruto in Orochimaru's lair. He _knew_ what Naruto held back from the rest of the world.

He also knew what _bijuu_ chakra could do to a human body.

"You can't help him," Temari repeated. "It's a fight between demons. What can you do in this kind of battle, _Issun-boushi_?"

Shikamaru didn't glare at her, but he did kind of resent the implication. Especially when his own shadows could thread through skin and bone. Shikamaru pulled the cigarette from his mouth and crushed his hand around the lit tip to put it out.

"If I have to fight a monster from the inside out, I will." His teeth clicked around his words succinctly.

Shikamaru dropped the paper and tobacco on the ground and jumped onto the roof into the village. Naruto would never forgive himself if anything happened to Konoha because of _Kyuubi_. And Shikamaru would never forgive himself if he didn't do everything in his power to keep that from happening.

**o0O0o**

Sasuke held one hand over his forehead in an attempt to shield his eyes, but he refused to drop his Sharingan. Even with the chakra burning his eyes and drying the blood on his face to a crust, he would not look away. He couldn't.

The crimson sphere was bright to his Sharingan, and Sasuke could see the individual streams of chakra flowing in opposite directions, like a kaleidoscope, all around the circumference of the sphere. He was still standing on the same branch that Naruto's clone had left him. The red chakra was too hot — like liquid heat — for him to get any closer, and with his Sharingan tracking the way the red chakra moved and swirled, Sasuke couldn't see within the sphere to what was happening with Orochimaru and Naruto.

Then, suddenly, the sphere shrank back in size, like a ball being compressed by a pair of hands. Sasuke leaned forward, hesitant only because he didn't want to be caught in some kind of backlash of the crazy jutsu that Naruto had invented and named after a divine wind. But the sphere only continued to shrink so quickly that it pulled with it the air around it. Sasuke felt the breeze hit him cool on his back while his face was still warm from facing _Kyuubi_'s chakra. Then, the red chakra was gone, and Sasuke's ears almost roared in the silence.

It took him a moment to realize the roaring wasn't in his ears. It was the thunder from the storm that he had conjured for _Kirin_.

Sasuke bolted forward as raindrops began pelting his back. It was only a few drops until a peal of thunder signaled the rending of the heavens, and the downpour began. Sasuke was soaked by the time he reached the branch with a pale figure was pinned to the tree trunk by two different kunai. The head lolled forward while long, dark hair covered the face like a ghost.

Sasuke stood in front of the unmoving body and set the blade of his _kodachi_ under the chin in order to lift the face up. Orochimaru's glazed, vacant eyes stared back at him with no trace of life behind him. A thin line of red bloomed on Orochimaru's neck as Sasuke's grip on his sword tightened. Sasuke sneered through the rain and drew his blade across Orochimaru's neck, satisfied to see the man's blood still flow from his slit neck. Turning his back on the body, Sasuke scanned the branch where he _knew_ he had seen Naruto stabbed through the chest.

"Naruto!" he yelled, angry at Naruto for causing this much trouble.

The rain fell into his eyes as Sasuke twisted his head around, scanning the branches that were on eye-level for a figure in a red and black coat. Sasuke scowled and shook his head to one side to try to cast off the raindrops that clung to his eyelashes. As his head snapped to the side, Sasuke caught a glimpse of a patch of red below him on the forest floor. He jumped down from the thick branch, leaving the body pinned to the tree behind him.

"Naruto!" Sasuke called as he knelt beside the still body.

The straight _chokuto_ Sasuke remembered as Kusanagi was still embedded into Naruto's body at an angle that would pierce his right lung. Sasuke dropped his short sword and pressed a palm next to the blade in Naruto's chest. He had to get the sword out of Naruto's body, but if he did, there was a chance Naruto could bleed out. Sasuke gritted his teeth and pulled the sword, gently and straight. As the tip exited Naruto's chest, the body beneath Sasuke's hand gave a little shudder, and Sasuke heard a wet cough, almost like a choke.

Sasuke cast the _chokuto_ aside quickly and planted his free palm over the bleeding wound. Naruto's head flopped on his shoulders as he rolled to lay flat on his back. Sasuke wasn't sure he was breathing as Naruto cracked his eyes open and peered through the rain at Sasuke.

"_Hebi_ . . ."

"Orochimaru's dead," Sasuke interrupted before Naruto could do more damage to his lungs than he already had.

Sasuke poured his concentration into the two hands he kept over Naruto's wound. He didn't know much above the most basic medical jutsu. But all of Konoha had surely seen that giant sphere of chakra, red and burning. There had to be some sort of back-up coming. Sasuke pressed a little harder, silently summoning help to get there quickly. Naruto squeezed his eyes shut and gave another deep cough, spraying blood over his chin and onto Sasuke's hands. Where did he even get the breath for that? Naruto spat out a mouthful of dribble from the corner of his mouth and met Sasuke's eyes.

"Kept your promise," Naruto rasped out as his mouth curved into a tired smile.

"I never promised you anything, _dobe_," Sasuke hissed back. Where the hell was his back-up?

Naruto's shoulders started to shake, and Sasuke wondered what he was supposed to do with a weeping man who was also bleeding out. But then, Naruto's body shifted under Sasuke's hands. He could see Naruto's right arm slowly rising off the ground, shaking like an old man's with the effort Naruto was putting into his gesture. Sasuke leaned down until he was inches away from Naruto's face and glared at the stubborn idiot.

"Stop moving," he ordered.

Naruto only grinned even wider through his own blood and spit. Then, Sasuke felt something tap twice on the metal plate over his forehead.

"Your turn," Naruto said.

Naruto's hand fell away from Sasuke's forehead, and Naruto closed his eyes as if it were too much trouble to keep them open any longer.

"Naruto," Sasuke called.

"Thanks, Sasuke."

Sasuke had to strain to hear Naruto's almost-whispered exhalation before it ended in a rough, wet rasp.

"Naruto."

Sasuke froze and watched — he was sure his Sharingan was still activated from the way his eyes burned — but Naruto's chest didn't move, didn't rise and fall with his regular breaths.

"Open your eyes, _dobe_," Sasuke demanded, his teeth clenched together.

He pushed harder on Naruto's chest. Surely, Naruto would bolt upright from that and start chewing Sasuke out because he wasn't doing it right, he'd much rather have Sakura-_chan_ next to him 'cuz Sasuke was a bastard anyway and shouldn't be trusted with something like—

_"Now it's your turn." _A ghost whispered in Sasuke's ear.

"This is a damn stupid prank," Sasuke growled in Naruto's face. The unmoving lips were turning slowly blue. "Open your damn eyes!"

"Sasuke!"

Sasuke heard his name but didn't turn from staring at Naruto, willing him to pop his eyes open and start laughing uproariously at catching Sasuke in such a good joke. Then a pair of hands grabbed Sasuke's shoulders and jerked him away.

"Let go of me!" he snapped, grabbing Orochimaru's sword from where it lay beside Naruto.

A hard hand clamped over his right arm, stopping the sword mid-swing. He stared into a pair of mismatched eyes peering out from above a half-mask.

"Sasuke, let the med-nin work," Kakashi ordered firmly.

Sasuke swallowed back the bile that rose in his throat. He suddenly felt dizzy, like his legs wouldn't support him. Perhaps that wasn't too surprising considering Sakura had only given him a quick fix. He could feel his body moving, but it didn't seem to be on its own power. Kakashi had an arm around his waist now, leading Sasuke away from the body on the ground.

Sasuke tried to remain upright as he watched two shinobi in ANBU masks kneel on either side of Naruto's unmoving form. The damn fool was going too far with his prank, and it wasn't like his words had meant anything.

"I didn't promise," Sasuke protested.

Why should Naruto be so concerned with thanking Sasuke if Sasuke had never said anything in return? He knew what had been asked of him, but _Naruto_ was the one who had vowed never to go back on his word. Sasuke had no such compulsions when it came to lying. How was Naruto supposed to know that Sasuke was going to protect the village unless he was awake to hear what Sasuke had to say to him?

A man in a white yukata and cap covering his head joined the ANBU on the ground. The apron around his waist held the sign of the Medical Corps. He started shouted instructions at the ANBU, but Sasuke couldn't discern the words through the haze in his mind.

"I never promised," he murmured at the still body on the ground.

Sasuke licked his lips and tasted salt. It must be raining hard.

* * *

A/N: Dear readers,

I. Am. Evil.

Thank you,

Fia

_Gouryuuka no Jutsu_ – Great Dragon Fireball Technique; what it sounds like, and a necessary step to Sasuke's _Kirin_.

_Issun-boushi_ – Because Kishimoto-_sensei_ seems to like integrating Japanese mythology in his work, I decided to do something of the same. _Issun-boushi_, or the Inch-High Samurai, is a Japanese folk tale about a couple who prays for a child, no matter how small. When the son is born, he is no higher than the man's fingertip.

_Izanagi_ – A Sharingan technique that only Danzo uses in the manga, Izanagi grants the user the ability to turn wounds and disadvantages into nothing more than dream. It also makes attacks and advantageous maneuvers real, thus giving one complete control over their own reality through an illusion cast on themselves. It is named for the god (together with his sister-goddess Izanami) responsible for the creation of Japan.

_Kamui_ – I think you already know this is Kakashi's Mangeyou technique. Kakashi focuses on an area of his target. The surrounding area will then warp and collapse in on itself, quickly reducing the surrounding area to nothingness. The technique will transport the focused area away to another location.

_Kirin_ – Sasuke will first launch fireballs into the sky above using his Gouryuuka jutsu. These fireballs will warm the atmosphere and create a powerful rising air current, which in turn generates thunderclouds. Sasuke will then form Chidori and raise his arm to the heavens. This will allow him to channel the lightning down upon his target. Because he is merely channeling the naturally created lightning, he is able to utilize a power greater than what a ninja could create with his own elemental chakra. Because this is also natural lightning, it will travel more quickly than any ninja could dodge. Upon calling down the lightning, it will create a powerful impact with a large amount of destruction.

_Kotoamatsukami_ – Kotoamatsukami, named for first of the Japanese gods, is a Ninjutsu technique which uses the Mangekyou form of the Sharingan eye to control the minds and opinions of others, without the victim's awareness. It is regarded as Uchiha Shisui's ultimate Genjutsu of his Mangekyou eyes. Not that Kishimoto is biased or anything, naming all the ultimate Sharingan techniques after gods.

_Kumo-Ryū Uragiri – _Cloud Style Reverse Beheading; The user does a powerful spin, generating the momentum needed to slash at any opponents behind them. The user can also utilise this spinning motion to trick an enemy that's in front of them. The enemy is fooled into thinking the user will attack them, but instead the user attacks the targets behind the user.

_Raijū Hashiri no Jutsu – _Lightning Beast Running Technique; By manipulating lightning chakra into their hand, the user can make the lightning expand to create the form of a hound. The hound remains connected to the user's hand, allowing them to control it during its attack.

_Raiton: Jibashi_ – Lightning Release: Earth Flash; This technique allows the user to create a wave of electricity from their hands. The user can vary its power from a small surge to shock an opponent to a powerful stream of lightning capable of ripping through solid rock.


	21. In Which It Ends

Chapter 20: In Which It Ends

_The supreme happiness in life is the conviction that we are loved — loved for ourselves, or rather, loved in spite of ourselves._

~ Victor Hugo

**o0O0o**

The thin man standing on top of a large plateau was not alone. Although one had to look very hard past the absurd dress of the man — a long, black cloak decorated with red clouds and an orange mask swirled with black lines that all circled toward the singular, round eyehole — to see his companion, a creature that vaguely resembled a man but for his lack of legs as his body seemed to sprout from the ground. Half the creature's body was a pasty while, like chalk, while the other half was black as ink, divided directly down the bilateral line of the creature's body.

** "Shimura Danzo is dead." **The harsh voice escaped from the two-toned creature.

The man cloaked in black only inclined his head slightly.

"How interesting," he said in a tone that suggested he was nothing more than curious.

"_It appears he died during Orochimaru's final attack on Konohagakure_." The new statement came from the same two-toned creature, but its pitch and tone had changed entirely.

** "Due to a piercing Lightning jutsu through his heart,"** the harsh voice clarified from the same mouth.

The man in the cloak turned his mask over the imposing view before him, looking down into a valley full of long, wild grasses.

"Indeed," noted the man calmly. "Did you witness the entire event?"

"_No_," said the creature with two voices. "_Only the final part_."

** "Enough to know his killer,"** the other voice jumped in.** "Uchiha Sasuke is aware his brother was under orders."**

The man looked away from the edge of the plateau and stared fully at the creature beside him.

"And how did young Sasuke react to this knowledge?" he asked.

** "He killed Danzo."**

The masked man tilted his head, almost as if he were rolling his unseen eyes.

"Obviously," scoffed the man before his voice became intent once again. "But he does not blame the village now for the deaths of his family?"

** "He did not appear to," **answered the segmented creature.

"_He was more concerned over the host of the Kyuubi_," offered the creature's second voice.

The man nodded.

"His bonds have not yet been severed," he said with an air of realization. "And with the death of Danzo, his hatred has burned out."

There was a beat of silence on top of the rocky plain.

"_The village may discover now who it was that gave Orochimaru access to the Yonbi_," suggested the white-and-black creature half-merged with the ground.

The cloaked man shifted beneath his cloak, folding his arms across his chest.

"Orochimaru is dead," he declared. "And even he did not know where the statue resided. Konoha will discover nothing if I do not wish them to."

**o0O0o**

Sakura strode down the pristine hallway of the hospital with a shallow box of bandages in her arms. The hospital seemed almost quiet as she walked. At least it was quiet when compared to the last few days. Sakura paused in front of the door to the room she was assigned to check next and heard an animated voice coming from within.

"See, this is _orochi-teme_ losing his head," said the voice. There was a pause and then— "Hey, of course I got good handwriting! I learned calligraphy, y'know."

Silence descended once again, but Sakura could hear the rustle of paper from inside the room.

"Well, Fukasaku-_jiji_, the old toad, he taught me when I was learning _haiku_," continued the voice. "He said it would help with writing seals if I knew kanji. Don't laugh."

Sakura didn't hear any laughter, but she supposed it was past time for her to intervene anyway. She slid the door open with one hand and entered the room. Sai, still dressed in the simple hospital shirt and pants, was sitting up in bed and grinning widely. The only sign of his continued need for the hospital were the white bandages around his neck.

Naruto sat on the foot of Sai's bed with his legs crossed while a red coat hung off the end of the bed. A scroll sat on top of the covers between the two young men, and Naruto was pointing a _fude_ full of ink into Sai's face with a very put-out look marring his usually cheerful visage.

"Frikkin' bastard," grumbled Naruto. "You think you could do any better?"

Sai deftly plucked the brush out of Naruto's fingers as he gave his visitor a cheeky grin. Sakura stepped forward, her shoes clacking against the linoleum of the hospital floor.

"Naruto, don't pick on Sai," she ordered.

Naruto tilted his head to look at Sakura with his bottom lip sticking out.

"Sakura-_chan_, not you, too!" he whined.

He didn't look very surprised to see her, but Sakura chalked that up to his full — and speedy — recovery.

"What are you doing here?" she asked as she set down the tray of fresh bandages on the table beside Sai's bed. "I thought you were still recovering."

With only five days separating the citizens of Konoha from the attack that Orochimaru had launched on the village, Naruto, by all rights, _should_ have still been on bedrest if he wasn't still in a coma. Besides the severe wound in his chest, Naruto had also come in battling the damage from his suicidal jutsu — just like he said, destruction on a cellular level like his _Rasenshuriken_ had done. The field _iryou-nin_ had had to restart his heart twice.

Naruto bounced on the hospital bed so that he settled in more comfortably.

"They just told me I could go," he announced. "I'm visiting Sai. See?"

He held up the long scroll so that Sakura could study it. A large portion of the paper was covered with what looked like random doodles, a child's depiction of a great battle between a man with a knife and a giant snake with a human face instead of a snake's face. Sakura would have laughed if it wasn't for the very neat and very precise kanji down the side of the scene, describing the events like on the old painting of samurai battles.

"I'm telling him about how I kicked _hebi-teme_'s butt," Naruto crowed triumphantly.

Sakura pursed her lips together to avoid noting how Naruto's kicking of butt had also included putting himself in a coma.

"Wasn't there an important event going on today?" Sakura tapped her chin thoughtfully, enunciating each word carefully as she watched Naruto for his reaction.

Naruto's eyes suddenly widened as his head snapped around to look for a clock. Seeing none, Naruto frantically looked out the window as if he were going to read the time from the length of the shadows on the ground.

"Oh, shit! I'm gonna be late!"

Naruto leaped off the bed, snagging his red coat as he stood. He shoved his arms through the sleeves of the coat as he darted out the door.

"Thanks, Sakura-_chan_," Naruto called over his shoulder before he completely disappeared.

Sakura stared at the empty doorway for a moment, marveling at how quickly Naruto could move sometimes. But she supposed it was to be expected when one of Naruto's precious people was involved.

"It's kind of scary how much he hasn't changed," Sakura murmured, more to herself than to Sai. Although she was confident Sai would at least know what she was talking about.

Sai's only response was to scratch at his temple as if puzzled before he tapped gently at the scroll Naruto had left on the hospital bed. Her eyes traced the dark mark under Sai's finger, a neat, perfectly formed kanji.

"Yeah," she sighed with a smile. "I suppose in some ways he has, too, hasn't he?"

Sai smiled up at her, looking pleased with his communication. Sakura straightened her back professionally and reached for the bandages around Sai's neck.

"Let me check your stitches."

Sai held still with his chin slightly lifted as Sakura unwound the white bandages from his neck to reveal pale skin. On the very front of Sai's neck, a design like a wire fence circled around the lump that was over his vocal cords. Naruto had made the seal as soon as he had woken to hear that Sai's throat was damaged because of Danzo's seal. It was another testament to how Naruto both had and had not changed. He had never been able to do this kind of seal-work before, but he still rushed to aid his friends.

**o0O0o**

"You can close your eyes now."

Sasuke obeyed, knowing the statement was more a command to deactivate his _doujutsu _than anything. It was somewhat of a relief to let the chakra stop its surging to his eyes; it seemed ever since the battle, every time he tried to activate his Sharingan, his eyes would start to bleed.

Sasuke raised his head and saw Shizune, who was frowning somewhere in the direction of the small table near Sasuke's hospital bed. She looked both concerned and very deeply troubled. Kakashi, who had taken a lazy position leaning his back against the wall by the door to the room, had his hands in his pockets. His visible eye showed no signs of worry, but Sasuke did not feel comforted by that. He already knew what was going on.

"I have the Mangekyou," he stated.

"Yes." Shizune nodded shortly.

"But I never—"

Sasuke had been barely thirteen, but he still remembered that burning — the desire to kill his best friend just so that he could gain a power that had made his brother a madman. Funny how Naruto never talked about that time.

"From what I can tell," Shizune began explaining when Sasuke didn't continue, "the technique was implanted into your eyes, possibly as far back as four years ago."

Four years ago? What could've caused—

"Itachi?" Sasuke suddenly blurted out as he realized just what was happening four years ago.

Itachi had tapped him on the forehead, just like he used to do.

_"Sorry, Sasuke, there won't be a next time."_

"Why would Itachi give Sasuke his greatest _doujutsu_?" Kakashi called from the wall.

"From what I understand of Mangekyou, it can only be activated by killing someone close to you." Shizune shuffled a clipboard into her hands and glanced over it. Sasuke wasn't sure what she would be looking for. Statistics on how his technique was developing, perhaps?

"Or understand yourself to be responsible for their death," Kakashi added. "The direct cause."

His voice was solemn as it rarely was. Sasuke realized that he had never asked Kakashi how he had gained _his_ Mangekyou, the one that granted him the power of _Kamui_. Sasuke raised his right hand and traced the contours of his cheekbone under his eye, half-expecting to find blood on his skin.

"My eyes were sealed after . . . that battle." Sasuke didn't want to mention Itachi's name again.

Shizune nodded, and she would know. She was one of the _iryou-nin_ who initially worked on suppressing Sasuke's _doujutsu_ once he had returned to Konoha.

"The technique could have been repressed because of that," she said thoughtfully.

"But then why did it show up after so many years?" asked Kakashi.

Sasuke almost tuned them both out as his hands fisted in the sheets of the hospital bed. Flimsy things felt like they were going to tear beneath his hands.

"The technique may have been triggered by the sight of Danzo's Sharingan," Shizune supposed.

"The one that matched Uchiha Shisui," Kakashi clarified as Sasuke closed his eyes again.

But Shizune would probably be angry at him for ruining hospital sheets. As if the hospital wasn't fully stocked with enough extras to cover every bed in the place twice over.

"Yes," said Shizune. "I'm not sure, but Itachi might have implanted the Mangekyou with the understanding that the sight of another Mangekyou would trigger it into awakening."

"How did Itachi know about Danzo's eye?" Kakashi asked.

"He wasn't planning for Danzo," Sasuke said suddenly. He looked at his hands curled into the sheets instead of at the people in the room. "He knew I'd want to face Madara if I was left alone."

Hadn't he demanded that Itachi give him an answer when they fought? Itachi had answered him, certainly, but he suspected Itachi had only done so because he didn't think his little brother would ever succeed at killing Uchiha Madara.

Sasuke kept his eyes down despite feeling both Kakashi's and Shizune's acute attention on him. Finally, Shizune shifted and tucked her clipboard under one arm.

"I'll leave you to rest," she announced more to the room in general than to Sasuke. "I have to report this to Tsunade-_sama_."

"Be careful." Kakashi opened the room door for her. "The ANBU haven't been completely purged yet."

Shizune only nodded on her way out. No one was quite sure how deeply Danzo's organization had penetrated Konoha's ranks. Sasuke heard the door slid shut behind Shizune. He heard Kakashi's soft footfalls as he moved closer to the bed. But he didn't look up from his hands.

"He told me Itachi did it to protect me," he murmured. "He murdered everyone else so that I could live."

"Danzo said that?"

Sasuke didn't answer Kakashi. He wasn't sure he could. But Kakashi only hummed thoughtfully.

"Was he telling the truth?" Kakashi pressed.

Sasuke felt his chin pulling its way to his chest. His head felt unusually heavy.

"It doesn't matter," he said.

Even if Itachi did sacrifice the Uchiha Clan for Sasuke, it didn't change what he had done. Sasuke's entire family was still dead. And now, it seemed more and more like it was their own fault, their just punishment for betraying their own home.

"Whether he was or not, I don't want the Uchiha Clan to have a legacy like that," Sasuke declared, lifting his chin just enough so that he wasn't staring at the sheets any longer. "Or like mine."

With the shadows of Danzo's speech in his head, Sasuke was more than well aware of the whispers of _traitor_ that tended to follow him around. Maybe he really did deserve that. He felt Kakashi take a step closer to his hospital bed and finally met the man's one-eyed gaze. He was surprised when the crinkles around Kakashi's eye suggested a smile.

"You defended the village not only against Akatsuki but also Orochimaru, Sasuke." Kakashi tapped Sasuke on the shoulder. "I think the next generation can be proud of that."

Sasuke turned away and looked out the window. It was sunny over Konoha, he noted, as he heard Kakashi walk out of the room.

**o0O0o**

Tsunade looked at the man in front of her desk, careful to keep her expression subdued and neutral.

"Have you determined what happened with Danzo?"

Ryoichi-_sensei_ didn't even nod.

"From what we learned during the autopsy, I believe the claims that Danzo was a silent partner to Orochimaru are valid," the research doctor answered.

There were two other witnesses to the report. An ANBU guard stood by the right side of Tsunade's desk. Usually she would protest such an obvious show of protection, but she needed someone in ANBU to bear witness to what crimes Danzo had committed. That would also provide what agents of ROOT were left in ANBU with a definite word of their leader's death and how Konoha officially viewed him.

Meanwhile, Shizune stood next to Ryoichi, staring at her aunt in all but blood and misplaced time. As professional as Shizune was, Tsunade could tell that something had disturbed her. Maybe Danzo was more like Orochimaru than Tsunade had ever suspected. Surely, no one would suspect that he would join in Orochimaru's attempts at biological engineering.

"It seems Danzo tried to combine his DNA with that of the Shodai Hokage," Shizune explained with a slight grimace on her face. "But without the proper genes, he lost control of the bloodline and was forced to cut off his own arm."

Tsunade almost grimaced along with her first apprentice. Senju Hashirama had been her grandfather, and she still remembered the times he would sneak away from the tower where he worked to visit his family, or when Tobi-_oji-san_ would scold him for not taking his job as the leader more seriously. It had been hard enough when she learned of the clone that Orochimaru had created in the man now called Yamato. She _hated_ what Danzo had done to his former mentor.

"I see," Tsunade murmured professionally. "And his eye?"

"The eye is a match to Uchiha Shisui," Ryoichi said. "Some witnesses who saw him in battle reported his entire right arm was supplanted with stolen Sharingan."

"Some witnesses" translated to Uchiha Sasuke, who was the one who had reported on Danzo's dead body in the end. Up until yesterday, Kakashi had been the only known survivor of a Sharingan transplant, and Tsunade had to wonder what Kakashi thought about _that_. Granted, Kakashi didn't have quite the connection to Uchiha Shisui as the younger generation had. But, Tsunade still remembered the trouble Kakashi had had directly after that mission that led to his new eye. The Uchiha did not let their eyes go lightly. For Danzo to have the eye from a man who had died one day before the Uchiha Massacre . . .

Tsunade would have to consider that after Uchiha Sasuke made his full report. And wouldn't _that_ be a fun time.

"Shizune." Tsunade turned her attention on the young woman. "Did you compare Danzo's DNA to the study you did three years ago?"

"_Hai_." Shizune nodded sharply.

The study had been one of genetic manipulation based on the DNA of the Oto-refugee Juugo. They were lucky to have it, Tsunade knew. The only way they had so much cooperation from the young man was because he listened to and obeyed only Sasuke.

"The techniques used to implant and combine Danzo's DNA structure were identical to those used on Juugo-_kun_ as well as what we've seen of the bodies of the Oto soldiers."

Tsunade frowned at Shizune's report. Beside the _iryou-nin_, Ryoichi-_sensei_ almost slumped.

"So, Orochimaru _was_ responsible . . ." he supposed from the information he had.

"Responsible, perhaps, but I highly doubt Danzo was unwilling," Tsunade interjected.

Danzo had, after all, been concerned primarily with strength. If not his own, than with the strength of Konoha. Tsunade didn't know whether to feel relieved that he hadn't used one of Konoha's own citizens in his experiments with the Mokoton and Sharingan, or disgusted that he had suffused all that power into his own body until his very genes rebelled against him. Tsunade blinked instead of shaking her head, but then she raised her eyes to the two reporting shinobi.

"And the cause of death?" she asked.

For the first time in the report, Shizune looked hesitant instead of disgusted.

"A wound through his chest with a matching hole on his back," she finally said, much quieter suddenly. "The edges of the wound still retained electric burns."

"He was stabbed with a _Raiton_ jutsu?" Tsunade concluded.

Shizune froze in place but managed to give a solemn, silent nod. Realization came rather swiftly for Tsunade. Sasuke had been the one to report that Danzo was dead after being engaged in battle. There were rumors that Uchiha had once again turned on his home before Orochimaru's dead, that the grip Orochimaru had on the young man had never fully dissolved and it was only after Orochimaru had been killed that Sasuke could be trusted not to attack the village itself. Although Tsunade was fairly confident that Sasuke wouldn't be so stupid as to launch an attack on Konoha, he was fully capable of using the overhanging chaos quite to his advantage when battling a single foe.

Sasuke would never forgive someone who took away his friend, no matter what he might say to protest the idea.

"Well, obviously, Orochimaru never intended to go through with the partnership he established with Danzo," Tsunade declared resolutely. There was absolutely no give in her voice. "And it wouldn't be the first time he killed his teacher."

Tsunade growled out the last part, thinking of Sarutobi-_sensei_ and a funeral she had declared she hadn't cared about. Until a bratty kid in a ridiculously orange outfit had dared to bet against her.

"I believe one of the Oto jounin was skilled in _Raiton_."

Ryoichi-_sensei_ spoke so calmly that Tsunade was half-convinced there really was such a person and Ryoichi _wasn't_ just lying out of his ass.

"Witnesses will place him just outside Konoha to the west," Ryoichi continued, "where Danzo was fighting."

So, everything was wrapped up perfectly. All Tsunade needed was a bow.

"We'll lay Shimura Danzo to rest in the public cemetery," she announced. "But he will not have his name on the Memorial Stone. He betrayed the village to Orochimaru and desecrated the memory of the Shodai Hokage. He does not deserve to be remembered with Konoha's greatest heroes: those who were willing to give their lives to protect us."

No one argued.

**o0O0o**

Yoshi took a large boulder from Isamu and rolled his eyes when he felt the weight. Isamu was insisting once again on pushing his limits. Yoshi heaved the rock away from the pile and turned back to work.

"Come, my beloved team!" Lee-_sensei_ shouted. "We shall demonstrate our Flames of Youth by rebuilding the ruined wall!"

Yoshi rolled his eyes at his _sensei_'s familiar antics. Kaoru, on Lee-_sensei_'s other side, hid her head as she blushed. Yoshi suspected that was only because of the other team's presence. He had seen her gaze up at the Kumo shinobi on her other side with rapt awe. Although, that might have been because of his dark skin tones. No one had skin like that in Konoha.

Yoshi ignored the way the dark-skinned man and woman looked at each other and went back to his task of shifting the rubble of the eastern wall away from the boundary of the village of Konoha. The Kumo kunoichi on his left side worked hurriedly, her dark skin glowing slightly in the sun. Meanwhile Isamu, standing on Yoshi's right, grunted every time he picked up a chuck of rock. That, Yoshi suspected, had something to do with the kunoichi working between Isamu and Lee-_sensei_. Or rather, the size of the kunoichi's breasts.

"If we fail to get this wall completely rebuilt by sundown, we shall walk around Konoha on our hands!" Lee-_sensei_ pumped one fist into the air as he grinned.

"Hey!" Kaoru's head snapped up as her blush receded with her look of indignation. "Don't volunteer us for your crazy ideas, Lee-_sensei_."

Yoshi glanced at the dark kunoichi beside him and rolled his eyes.

"He's always like this," he muttered, hoping that was enough to explain Lee's eccentric behaviors.

The kunoichi — Karui, Yoshi thought her name was — only smiled.

"He doesn't rap, does he?" she muttered back.

Yoshi tried to picture Lee-_sensei_, in his full jounin uniform, which tended to be green, and orange leg warmers standing on stage and performing for a crowd — most likely about the Flames of Youth and their importance. Yoshi pressed the heel of his palm to the center of his forehead and tried desperately to think of something.

"No," he growled with his eyes squeezed shut.

"Ha!"

Isamu let out a loud laugh that seemed to escape him despite all his intentions of showing off. He quickly subdued his expression as he glanced at the blonde Kumo-nin between him and Lee-_sensei_.

"That would be kinda cool." Isamu shrugged as if he had only given the idea a passing thought.

"Not _that _cool." Yoshi scowled at him.

Isamu shot him a glare that clearly said he had things under control and didn't need any help from his eye-rolling teammate. Yoshi pushed a new boulder into Isamu's hands impatiently.

"Hurry up, Isamu," he commanded. "Hinata-_sama_ said Neji-_san _may have some time to train with the Branch genin if we get done early."

Isamu stuck his tongue out at Yoshi when the big-breasted kunoichi was facing away. The kunoichi tilted her head slightly and looked down at Yoshi.

"You are a Hyuuga?" she asked.

"Yes."

"Do you know we are from Kumo?"

Yoshi gave a pointed look at the _hitai-ate_ that was tied around the woman's waist like a belt. The simplistic moniker of clouds floating in the sky was clearly visible. Slowly, Yoshi lifted his eyes back to the lady's stoic face.

"Yeah," he said. "It's not that hard to figure out."

The Kumo kunoichi stared at him with a blank look on her face. Yoshi tried not to blush as he turned back to the ruined wall and kept shifting the large chunks of concrete out of the way. He wished he knew at least one _Doton_ jutsu. The _Jyuuken_ wasn't very useful in situations like this.

"I would think you might have good reason to hate us," noted the blonde kunoichi.

Yoshi glanced up and tried to think when he had ever been to Kumo before. He didn't have any stupid rivalries with any foreign nin; not even Isamu counted as his rival, whatever Isamu said. Lee-_sensei_ wouldn't even allow his team in the Chuunin Exams for at least another six months. He wanted them to have a year of experience before they tackled a test that large, he had said.

But then, there was something about the clan's history that involved Kumo, wasn't there? Yoshi didn't remember the details, but maybe the kunoichi had been old enough to remember something like that.

"I know that Kumo was after the Byagakun, but that was before I was born." Yoshi shrugged. "You haven't ever done anything to me."

It took a moment for Yoshi to realize that all work had stopped around him. All three of the Kumo-nin were staring at him now, and even Lee-_sensei_ had ceased his frenzied work — Yoshi didn't think the man had a setting other than frenzied — to smile proudly at Yoshi. Yoshi blushed. He wasn't even sure what he had done that was so good.

"Samui-_san_." Lee-_sensei_ turned to the blonde kunoichi with the large chest. His voice was much softer and more serious than it usually was. "In Konoha we are taught that hatred leads only down a dark path of destruction. Our greatest tool is the strength that comes in defense of our comrades."

The kunoichi stared at Lee-_sensei_ blandly for a moment, but then she tilted her head and looked a little more friendly than her cool demeanor suggested she could.

"You love your team, Lee_-san_?" she asked.

Lee's fist soared into the air, and Yoshi hid his face into one palm.

"Of course!" Lee-_sensei_ shouted. "My beloved students are burning with the Eternal Fires of Youth!"

Yoshi really wished Lee-_sensei_ could hold off on the declarations of flames and fires and anything having to do with Youth when foreign shinobi were around. He kept his head down as he made his way back to the pile of rubble at the base of the ruined wall and knelt down beside a particularly large boulder. The Kumo kunoichi, Karui, crouched on the other side of the boulder, obviously ready to help him lift it.

"Don't worry," she murmured with a smile. "Our _sensei_ would always say things in rhyme. All the greatest shinobi are slightly mad."

Yoshi only nodded as his muscles worked to lift the boulder with Karui's help. He didn't think her adage was particularly true. After all, Neji-_san_ was the strongest shinobi in the entire Hyuuga Clan, and he was perfectly sane.

**o0O0o**

"Congratulations, Kaito-_kun_."

Kaito bowed politely — it seemed only right to do so in front of the two men and one lady in green vests — and reached out to take the metal band from the man with the scar across his nose. Mako had said that Iruka-_sensei_ was probably the nicest one, and the man's smile seemed to justify that title.

"Thanks, Iruka-_sensei_," Kaito said with a smile.

"You did very well on all the tests, Kaito-_kun_," Iruka-_sensei_ said with a wide grin. If Kaito didn't know better, he'd say the man was proud of him.

"You're to report back here tomorrow with the rest of the graduating class to get your team assignment," said the young woman with the green vest.

"_Hai_."

Iruka-_sensei_ shooed Kaito out the door as the other man strode to the classroom door to call out the name of the next student. Kaito forced himself to walk calmly down the hallway toward the Academy door. It wasn't like he was excited or something.

Outside, Kaito saw Daisuke, the energetic Academy student that had helped out him and Mako a few days ago. The boy was holding his new _hitai-ate_ on his forehead without tying it securely, and he bounced up and down while a middle-aged couple smiled down at him. They looked like the perfect family.

"Kaito-_kun_!"

Kaito looked up and saw Mei waving her hand vigorously over her head as she grinned. Mako stood beside her with a silly little smile on his face, like he was trying too hard not to grin, and _sensei_ was standing behind both of them with his arms crossed over his chest. His face was free of any mask _or_ disguise, so that his blue eyes were showing under blond hair. He still had the red and black coat he liked, though.

"Hi, Naruto-_sensei_." It seemed only right that he call his _sensei_ by name, Kaito thought, but only because _sensei_ smiled so widely when he did.

"Let's see that." Naruto-_sensei_ reached out to take the metal _hitai-ate_ from Kaito.

Kaito handed his new badge over as Mako watched intently. _Sensei_ used both hands to tie it firmly around Kaito's head, positioning the metal plate directly over his forehead. Then the man leaned back and surveyed his work with a smile that was a little different than the wide grin Kaito was used to seeing on _sensei_.

"It looks good on you, Kaito," _sensei_ declared.

_Sensei_ was proud of him, Kaito realized suddenly. He stood up a tad bit straighter.

"Hey, we match now!" Mako jumped forward and slung one arm around Kaito's shoulders. "Now we can be a team and go on missions."

Kaito smiled at the thought. It felt like he had always been training with Mako — that stuff when he was still in Ta no Kuni didn't really count because he wasn't with _sensei_ yet. But now they could work together on missions, fulfilling the same goal.

_Sensei _folded his arms across his chest again and peered down at his two students.

"Teams are made of three people," he said with his smile gone. "Even if you two are on the same team, you'll have another person with you."

Kaito glanced over at Mako.

"Yeah," Mako said reluctantly as Kaito nodded.

He knew teams were supposed to be groups of at least three. It worked like that everywhere, even Ta no Kuni. Which meant that Mako and Kaito would have to work with a stranger for a while. Something heavy landed abruptly on Kaito's head, and he looked up. Naruto-_sensei_ was bending over, resting one hand on the top of Mako's head and one on top of Kaito's head.

"No matter who your teammates are, you two know the rules," _sensei_ said.

"Yeah," Kaito replied, determined to make his _sensei_ proud again. "Those who don't protect their teammates are even lower than trash."

_Sensei_'s smile widened slowly until he was grinning just like normal.

"That sounds familiar to me," noted a calm voice.

Kaito glanced over his shoulder as _sensei_ straightened, lifting his hands off of the boys' heads.

"Iruka-_sensei_!" Naruto-_sensei_ called happily.

Iruka-_sensei_ from the Shinobi Academy was walking through the straggling families still hanging around and congratulating their kids. Iruka smiled and nodded at _sensei_, who was smiling almost wider than Kaito had ever seen.

"Naruto." Iruka's eyes flickered down to where Mako and Kaito stood side by side. " You've come to see your student, I assume."

"Yeah," _sensei_ said, his chest proudly thrust out. "I got good kids, _ne_?"

That was Kaito's cue to stand up straighter. Mako tilted his head just enough so that the sunlight caught the metal of his _hitai-ate_. Kaito was too happy to scoff at Mako's obvious showing-off.

"You do." Iruka-_sensei_ nodded solemnly. "I'm very proud of you, Naruto."

Kaito watched _sensei_ stand up a bit taller and lift his head the same way Mako was. He wondered if every teacher could do that with their students, make their spines go straight in an instant.

"Thanks," _sensei_ murmured.

"But if you ever do something so blockheaded as that stunt you pulled ever again, I'll make you scrub all five faces of Hokage Mountain until there's not even a speck of dust left on the rocks!"

Kaito drew back from Iruka-_sensei_, shocked at the sudden transformation of the kindest _sensei_ in the Academy into what seemed like a seven-foot-tall golem with a voice that could be heard all the way across the village. Even Naruto-_sensei_ shrank backwards as Iruka yelled.

But then, Iruka-_sensei_ smiled again at Naruto and nodded, as if he knew his message had been taken to heart. Once again the smiling teacher, Iruka turned around and gave a friendly wave to Daisuke and his family. Kaito glanced beside him, glad to find Mako in the same state of apprehension as he was. Mako caught Kaito's eye and shrugged off the way his shoulders were hunched up.

"He's a whole different kind of scary," Mako defended himself.

"Yeah," scoffed Naruto-_sensei_ from above their heads. "Be glad I'm not a mean _sensei_."

Mako looked like he wanted to say something to that — Mako usually had something to say about _sensei_'s teaching methods. But Kaito watched the way _sensei_ rubbed his palm against the back of his head, and he elbowed Mako in the ribs. Naruto-_sensei_ didn't seem to notice the boys' actions as he clapped his hands and rubbed them together eagerly.

"Now, I think this calls for ramen," _sensei_ announced.

Just like that, the atmosphere shifted into celebration again. Mei, who had stayed perfectly quiet through Iruka-_sensei_'s visit, now jumped up and pumped one fist in the air.

"Yay for Kaito!" she shouted.

Kaito almost rolled his eyes, but then a pair of skinny arms wrapped around his neck as Mei latched onto him. She stretched on tiptoe so that her lips could reach his cheek, and she made a kissing sound as she gave him a peck. Then, Mei ran ahead down the street, half-skipping on her way.

"Hey," Mako called. "I got a headband, too, _mei mei_. Don't I get a kiss?"

"Shut up, idiot," muttered Kaito as he rubbed his cheek, already feeling his skin heat up.

He glanced over his shoulder at _sensei_, but the man was only staring after his kids with his head tilted, as if he wasn't quite sure what to do with the scene. Blushing even more, Kaito scowled and faced forward again, pretending he didn't hear Naruto-_sensei_ chuckling behind him.

**o0O0o**

Shikamaru blew out a stream of smoke around the lit cigarette between his lips. Temari didn't comment on his habit as she walked beside him on their way to the main gate of Konoha. It was past time Temari and her team had to return to Suna. Temari's eyes flickered to a section of the wall, where a large chunk of concrete had crumbled to the ground inside the village.

"Gaara's already said he'll help with the reconstruction however he can," Temari noted.

Shikamaru nodded. Messenger hawks had been sent between Suna and Konoha at an alarming rate during the last week. Tsunade and Temari had been in charge of most of them, but Shikamaru had occasionally been called on for his own information on Orochimaru's levels of attacks and strategies.

"Sand has been very kind allies in this war," Shikamaru felt he needed to say. Just to acknowledge that he had once again been saved by Temari's good timing.

Temari snorted, a very un-ladylike sound from someone who could stand with the best of Suna's soldiers.

"Allies, my foot," scoffed Temari. "If it weren't for that blond idiot, we wouldn't be allies in the first place."

Temari waved one hand back in the direction of the Hokage Tower, making Shikamaru glance over his shoulder the same way. She could be talking about Godaime Hokage, but the Suna-Konoha alliance hadn't really solidified until after that mission where Kakashi's team had rescued Gaara from the Akatsuki team that had captured him.

Shikamaru didn't think Temari actually credited Tsunade with the outcome of that mission.

"I'd like to think the Elemental Countries aren't destined to be enemies forever," Shikamaru said lazily. It was mostly a statement meant to probe into hidden meanings, draw out something from her he hoped would explain her words.

"Not if your wanna-be Hokage has anything to say about it."

That had to be Naruto, Shikamaru thought. Temari cast a fond smile up at the arch of the gate as they crossed the threshold where Baki and the other Suna jounin were waiting. Shikamaru studied her face carefully and wished he had slightly more practice reading people.

"Have you talked to him?" he asked casually as his fingers plucked the cigarette from his lips.

"No." Temari shook her head. "But I saw him around the village. I'll have to tell Gaara he's as bouncy as ever."

Shikamaru was glad the other two Suna-nin felt no need to hurry the departure along. It gave Shikamaru the time to notice that the way Temari smiled when she spoke of Naruto was the same kind of way a sister would smile at an annoying younger brother — both exasperated and fond.

"Temari," Shikamaru called with a slight frown, "did Gaara know that Raiden was really Uzumaki Naruto."

Temari only shrugged lightly.

"Why are you asking me?"

Shikamaru noticed that she wouldn't meet his eyes when she asked.

"Raiden was listed as an ally of Kaze no Kuni in your bingo book," he said.

He hadn't thought of it after Raiden had agreed to help Konoha. Really, his status with Kaminari no Kuni had been the biggest surprise because Kumo hadn't been on the best of terms with Konoha for seventeen years. Shikamaru only knew Raiden's status with Kaze no Kuni because he had looked it up in the bingo book that Suna published, which he only had because he had made so many trips to the desert once he became jounin.

Temari shifted the giant fan on her back, wearing it like a thick staff that stretched almost as tall as she stood.

"Even if Gaara knew something like that," Temari hedged, "he wouldn't tell anything Naruto asked him not to."

Shikamaru made a loose fist with the hand that held his cigarette.

"That could be seen as a breach of the alliance." He frowned at Temari as the smoke tickled his nose.

Temari finally turned to face him, placing one hand on her hip as she shifted her weight into an arrogant pose.

"You'd have to prove that Gaara knew about it first," she said with a little smile. "Is your genius brain really going to waste time with that?"

Shikamaru considered this. If he did try to prove that Gaara knew who Raiden was — and he thought he could — the proof would only lead to questions about why Gaara didn't tell Konoha about it. Shikamaru could guess the reason; Danzo had threatened Naruto, and in return, Naruto had asked Gaara to keep silent. If Gaara's truthfulness was called into question, it would reflect badly on the alliance between Suna and Konoha.

"_Mendōkusei_." Shikamaru placed the cigarette back between his lips and rolled his head back to look at the cloudless sky above him. No distractions today.

"Temari-_san_," Baki called, apparently satisfied that the conversation was over.

Shikamaru felt a finger tap on his chin, and he looked down again. Temari grinned at him so widely that Shikamaru had a feeling she was darn close to laughing at him.

"Bye-bye, Nara," Temari sang as she waved her hand in an exaggerated motion.

Shikamaru watched her lead her team down the road, walking only until they darted into the forest to travel by tree branches. He shook his head and slid his hands into his pockets as he turned back to the village. He may have been a genius but even he didn't understand why he liked such a troublesome woman.

**o0O0o**

Hinata sipped at her tea and breathed in the earthy scent of the brewed leaves. The tea shop wasn't one of her typical haunts in Konoha, but it was quiet and the building had escaped unharmed from Oto's attack. It was a good place for Hinata to rest for a moment.

"Hinata."

She turned toward the deep voice calling her to see Shino, complete in his overlarge coat and sunglasses.

"Hello, Shino-_kun_," she greeted.

Silently, Shino padded around the small table Hinata sat at until he stood just over her shoulder.

"The Hyuuga Clan has been speaking of your actions during the attack," he said blandly. "Why? They are impressed with the level of authority you showed."

Despite Shino's nonchalant tone, Hinata blushed and glanced down at her teacup. She had known Shino long enough to distinguish a compliment from him.

"Thank you," she murmured.

"Hinata!"

Hinata recognized the wild call even before she heard the loud bark that followed. Kiba was jogging down the street, waving one hand over his head as Akamaru trotted beside him. They both seemed in very good health; Akamaru didn't even have any further symptoms from his poisoning, despite his lengthy recovery period. Hinata smiled at the pair of them, glad to see her friends with their usual amount of energy.

"Kiba-_kun_," she greeted.

Kiba wasted no time in plopping down in the chair beside Hinata, opposite of Shino, while Akamaru sat on his haunches and used a hind leg to scratch at his neck happily. Kiba let out an exhausted sigh.

"Man, am I ever glad to be off the clean-up detail." He stretched both hands over his head until Hinata heard a pop. "I thought my back would break from lifting all those rocks."

Hinata knew there was still a lot of work to be done around the village. They hadn't looked this bad since Pein had attacked Konoha.

"But now, Akamaru and I are busy tracking," Kiba continued. "They want to make sure none of _orochi-teme_'s goons stuck around once he wound up dead."

Hinata felt her hand drifting up to her lips and resolutely placed it back on her lap.

"Have you found anyone?" she asked nervously.

"Nah." Kiba shrugged. "There were a few bodies, but they were all regular bodies. Hana said she thought the drugs had worked their way outa their systems after they died, so that's why they didn't look like those zombies Naruto was talking about."

Hinata nodded. It sounded like something Naruto would say.

"What was Naruto talking about?"

Hinata glanced up and saw Tenten walking with Ino down the street. The two girls were looking curiously at the gathering of Kurenai's old team around a tea table.

"Tenten-_san_. Ino-_san_." Hinata nodded her head politely to greet each of them.

Ino only waved her off as she pulled out the chair next to Kiba and plopped down.

"We were just at the hospital," Tenten explained. "Chouji's almost ready to be released."

"What about everyone else?" Kiba straightened in his seat, his eyes peering attentively at the newcomers.

"Sakura and Tsunade-_sama_ are still working on a way to restore Sai's voice," said Ino. "Sakura thinks they'll be able to. Sasuke's still in observation."

Kiba scowled at the mention of Uchiha Sasuke, but he didn't say anything. Hinata hurriedly turned toward Ino in an attempt to divert his attention.

"And N-Naruto-_kun_?"

If anyone noticed her slight stutter, no one said anything. Ino threw her hands up in the air, exasperated.

"That guy was out of the hospital by the time we got to where he was supposed to be," she huffed. "Honestly, he's still such a blockhead."

Even as she said it, Ino's mouth turned up into something that was almost a smile. Hinata ducked her head so that neither of the other young woman would see her blush at the thought of Naruto being all right. Kiba held no such reserve as he laced his fingers together and he leaned back, supporting his head with his interlocked fingers.

"You should hear some of the theories the civilians are coming up with about Naruto." Kiba grinned as if he had told a very good joke.

Ino broke into a full smile while Hinata frowned at Kiba, waiting for him to explain. She hadn't heard much of what was going on outside of the Hyuuga Clan besides the clean-up efforts.

"I've heard," Tenten interjected. "I think I like the one about him having amnesia and forgetting where he was from."

Hinata's eyes widened. Was that what Kiba was talking about? People were trying to guess the reason behind Naruto's disappearance for so long? At least she could be glad the real reason hadn't come up yet. What Tenten was saying sounded more like the plot for a romance novel.

"Most will probably believe that he was on assignment for Hokage-_sama_," Shino stated with his hands tucked into his pockets. "We have good relations with Kumo and Ame now only because of him."

Kiba sat back in his chair properly.

"Because he's Raiden," he corrected quietly.

_ "Aa_." Shino's voice was soft but firm.

Hinata placed the palm of one of her hands over the other in her lap to keep herself from pinching at her lips. She hadn't paid a lot of attention to the masquerade Naruto had gone by while he had been away — it seemed kinder to call it "being away" than the manipulation and blackmail it had actually been. But she knew that Raiden had been a powerful figure, both in the civil war that threatened Ame and as an enemy of Oto.

"What will he do now?" Ino wondered aloud.

Hinata lifted her head.

"He mentioned taking the Chuunin Exams once he gets the chance."

Actually, Naruto's words had been more of a retort to Kiba's teasing, and Hinata didn't even think the people who had been there remembered that much. The prank Naruto had pulled right after that had taken up most of that evening.

"Ha!" Kiba laughed out loud and slapped his knee. "I'd love to see who he gets teamed up with. Little brats'll probably fall flat on their faces trying to keep up with him."

"It will be a challenge for him to pass the tests without completely taking over for his team," Shino agreed.

Hinata looked around while her friends all smiled at the thought of Naruto _finally _catching up to the rest of them.

"I think he can do it," she blurted firmly.

Ino looked up at Hinata, surprised, while Kiba just continued to grin.

"Oh, I don't doubt that he'll do it," Tenten said.

"Yeah." Kiba folded his arms over his chest as he smiled. "After all, he still needs to become Hokage."

**o0O0o**

Kakashi balanced carefully on the sill of the window, his book in one hand held up close to his nose. It was relatively easy to bypass the hooded figures he knew were perched on and around the building, although he rather suspected they _let_ him do what he was doing.

"Can't you ever use the door?" Tsunade grumbled from inside her office.

Kakashi took that as an invitation to step in from the window and walk leisurely into the Hokage's office.

"I do," he replied simply. "With my team."

He still remembered the first time he had walked through the double doors of the office, leading a genin team of kids he knew would either fall apart at the seams or grow up to be great leaders of the village. He wondered if he could satisfy himself with the thought that his team had somehow managed to do both.

Tsunade leaned over her large desk, resting her elbows on the paperwork that covered the surface of the wood. She pressed the tips of her fingers over her eyelids. Kakashi suspected if it wasn't for the genjutsu she always kept up, Tsunade would look pretty darn aged within the last few days.

"Long day?" he asked.

"I'm about ready to retire from this job," Tsunade sighed. She looked up and pinned Kakashi with reddened eyes. "I don't suppose you'd like the hat, Hatake?"

Kakashi smiled beneath his mask, causing the fabric to stretch as his uncovered eye squinted.

"No, thanks. Sakura would probably hide all my books, and Shizune already took the _sake_."

The topic of the next Hokage had come up before, and Kakashi knew there were some who had suggested him. Tsunade bent down and used one hand to pluck a small bottle from the bottom drawer of her desk.

"Not all the _sake_." She smiled triumphantly.

Kakashi ignored her as she tipped her head back and sipped directly from the bottle. He wasn't sure if Tsunade had been serious about naming him the next Hokage, but he didn't think he would do a good job. He had been a soldier too long, was too familiar in all the bloody ways to keep a village afloat. The village needed someone better than him, and Kakashi already had someone in mind.

"Besides, don't you need to wait for a proper successor?" he addressed Tsunade as she wiped the remnants of sweet rice-wine from her lips.

From the way Tsunade's eyes narrowed immediately, Kakashi suspected she knew exactly the one Kakashi had in mind as well.

"That brat is too headstrong," the Hokage spat. "He put himself in too much danger."

"He was willing to die to protect the village," Kakashi retorted.

He didn't say that he had almost had a heart attack when he felt the poisoned chakra rise over the forest. Or that he had only held on to Sasuke so desperately because he knew he wouldn't be able to help Naruto when he was lying on the ground, bleeding out and dying. Kakashi could still see how the blood on the ground had practically blended in with Naruto's red coat, making it look like the young man was surrounded by blood.

"Don't remind me." Tsunade lowered her head to rest one hand over her eyes.

Kakashi wisely said nothing as Tsunade slowly lowered her hand. Her eyes seemed a little sharper and a little harder.

"Still, only that brat would find a way to pull this kind of prank," she said heavily. "He convinced everyone that he was dead and then still managed to save the village from Orochimaru."

"He _is_ Konoha's Most Surprising Ninja," Kakashi noted.

He considered his next words only long enough to toss around the thought that he might just be crazy for suggesting it.

"Will you bet that Naruto will become Hokage?" he suggested. "Within your lifetime?"

A slow, sly smile appeared on Tsunade's face as she lifted her eyes to Kakashi.

"I don't think you want me to take that bet, Hatake," she said. "I'd win it. And bad things happen when I win."

"How do you know you'd win?" Kakashi didn't really think Tsunade would _lose —_ not when Naruto's chance at his dream was on the line — but Tsunade did have a reputation of losing more often than she won.

"I learned long ago never to bet against Naruto." Tsunade smiled as she tipped back the _sake_ jar.

"Ah." Kakashi smiled again. It was good to know that Naruto had such support behind him. Maybe his dream wasn't as far away as anyone thought. "What do you think he'll do to the world next?"

**o0O0o**

Naruto took a deep breath and let all the air out of his lungs. The wind smelled like fresh earth and growing things, but if he were really picky, he could probably smell the dust of the day's worth of construction from the village below him. He had missed this view, being able to see his entire village at once. And this spot on Hokage Mountain really was the best.

"I like this spot," he announced. "Has a good view."

No one answered him, so Naruto didn't turn to look over his shoulder. If Sasuke wanted to hang around a mountain face like a vulture, that was his business.

"You're supposed to be in the hospital," a cool voice finally said.

Grinning at the thought that he had outlasted the cold bastard for once, Naruto tilted his head up so that he was almost bending over backwards to see the man in a traditional jounin uniform standing on the face of the mountain.

"So're you, Sasuke-_teme_," said Naruto.

"I thought it prudent to check up on you." Sasuke crossed his arms over his chest and huffed as his eyes traced over the Hokage Tower just below them.

Naruto rolled his eyes and turned back to his great view.

"Okay," he pouted, "now you just sound like Shino."

Naruto heard the soft tap of shoes against the hard rock of Yondaime's carved out head. He didn't look behind him, even when he felt Sasuke's presence draw up close to his back.

"Danzo is dead."

Naruto drew in a quick breath and held it for a moment. He had already known, but Sasuke's tone was almost as dead as Danzo was.

"I heard about that," Naruto said quietly.

It was hard not to hear about it when he had been in the hospital. Sai had been pretty excited, even without being able to say anything.

"The Hokage and ANBU are working at cleaning the remnants of ROOT from the shinobi ranks," Sasuke continued.

Naruto wondered if Sasuke knew how much he sounded like a subordinate reporting to his Hokage. Naruto tried not to smile too widely at the thought.

"Good." He glanced over his shoulder at Sasuke, hoping Sasuke didn't take his smile the wrong way.

Naruto's eyes darted up to the _hitai-ate_ on Sasuke's forehead. He had recognized it from the first time he had seen it on Sasuke's head. The little scratches and signs of wear marked it as his. The mark of loyalty that Iruka-_sensei_ had entrusted to him and he had entrusted to Sasuke.

Sasuke frowned at Naruto's intense perusal, but Naruto just shrugged and looked ahead again. Sasuke stepped forward so that he stood next to Naruto, facing the village below.

"No one's even asking for a true explanation about your disappearance," Sasuke said.

Naruto turned to Sasuke with wide eyes. He didn't know if Tsunade was going to make Danzo's actions public knowledge, but it didn't occur to him that people would come to their own conclusions.

"They think I betrayed the village?"

"No!" Sasuke practically shouted as he spun to face Naruto. "You are physically incapable— You couldn't—"

Sasuke swallowed hard and stopped talking. Naruto wasn't even sure what he was trying to say. Sasuke took a deep breath; Naruto could practically see Sasuke's brain reboot as he calmed himself.

"You would _never_ betray anything you cared about that much," Sasuke murmured, keeping his eyes on the ground below his feet instead of looking at Naruto.

"So, trust that I never will," Naruto replied simply.

Naruto was sure Sasuke's face scrunched up like a boy's about to cry for a moment. But the moment passed quickly enough to leave only a harshly set jaw that refused to shed any light on the Uchiha's inner workings. Stuck-up bastard _would_ be ashamed of having simple things like feelings.

A cool breeze brushed by Naruto's coat, making it flap at his sides as he turned away from Sasuke and looked out at the view.

"We still got work to do, y'know," he muttered to Sasuke. "Orochimaru never told me who the guy was who gave him access to the _Yonbi_."

"Likely a remnant of Akatsuki." Sasuke's voice was steady now. "I don't know what happened to Hoshigaki Kisame after the battle."

Naruto glanced at Sasuke out of the corner of his eye, but Sasuke was staring in the same direction, refusing to look at Naruto. But Naruto saw the way Sasuke held himself, like all the muscles in his body had seized up. One corner of his mouth turned up and he looked back.

"It's all right," he declared. "We'll protect Konoha."

"Yes."

Naruto grinned. He would never tell Sasuke, but he really believed that Sasuke would keep his promise. That was the one lesson he had wanted Sasuke to learn. That was the reason he had wanted Sasuke to have the _hitai-ate_ that even now rested on the darker man's forehead. If that was what was tying Sasuke to Konoha, it was worth giving it up.

Naruto reached his arms over his head in a stretch and rested his hands at the back of his neck.

"I'll have to see how long it takes me to scratch your forehead now, _teme_," he said.

He and Sasuke hadn't really had a proper spar in ages, not even when they were sixteen and Sasuke had first come home. There had been some tension between Raiden and Sasuke, almost like when they were thirteen and fighting under a waterfall, but Naruto had never wanted that. He just wanted his brother back.

"You're joking," Sasuke scoffed. "I'm clearly faster than you."

Naruto's hands flew back to his sides as he spun around. Sasuke was wearing a tiny smirk — barely a twitch in one corner of his mouth, but Naruto saw it.

"Hey!" Naruto jabbed one finger at Sasuke. "Didn't you see how I caught up to _orochi-teme_?"

Sasuke made a motion with his neck as if he wanted to roll his eyes but couldn't bring himself to.

"Yes, and then I saw you bleed all over his stomach," said Sasuke. "Most impressive."

_ "Teme_!" Naruto growled as Sasuke turned back to head to the top of the mountain.

Naruto jumped after him, thinking he'd just jump on the bastard's back and just tackle him to the ground. Maybe he'd dig up another one of his seals. The skunk one would suit Sasuke pretty well. Scrambling up the face of the mountain, Naruto couldn't keep the wide grin off his face.

**o0O0o**

_As is the generation of leaves, so is that of humanity. _

_The wind scatters the leaves on the ground, but the live timber _

_Burgeons with leaves again in the season of spring returning. _

_So one generation of men will grow while another dies. _

Homer_, The __Iliad_

* * *

A/N: The end!

I usually hate lengthy author's notes, but I feel I need to thank some behind-the-scenes people.

First and foremost, to the stories on this site that first got me inspired. So, to _Walking Corpse_ by dazdnconfused; which first got me thinking about how I would tackle the whole, Naruto-is-forced-to-leave-Konoha-and-returns-in-secret-to-save-it. Also, _Time and Again_ by KyLewin, who is an amazing writer and who always gave me something to aspire to in terms of fight scenes. Seriously, good.

I do need to mention both Rawrmander, who was a very dedicated beta while this story was in its infancy, and Nemesis Jedi, whose reviews made me consider plot points I hadn't even seen before. NJ, I owe you (seriously. i will write you a oneshot if you like). And all the other reviewers who made me so enthused to write this story: SuperN-Gaspard, SenceLess, K.R. Ukido (thanks for reviewing all my chapters even long after they had come out!), fransis, mamawar, NekoKriszty, ficticious-imagination (it's always nice to see authors whose work I admire reading _my_ story) and ShirouHokuto (you and your CAPS LOCK key literally made my day every time you reviewed).

And to everyone else who ever reviewed, added me to your favorites, or even silently followed this story.

Thank you!

Fia Ochiern


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